Hyundai supplier will bring 130 jobs to Montgomery

A Korean auto supplier plans to employ 130 people at its new Montgomery plant, according to an official with the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Montgomery Advertiser reported Tuesday that Guyoung Tech USA quietly started production at its second North American plant here in early November. That operation represents a $7.5 million investment, according to Ellen McNair, the Chamber’s senior vice president of corporate development.

The company plans to ramp up to 130 employees over the next few years, McNair said.

Guyoung Tech USA supplies parts for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama’s just-in-time assembly process. The new facility at 780 Industrial Park Blvd. makes seating components.

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Representatives for the Chamber of Commerce and the city declined to comment for the Advertiser’s initial story or provide further details, and an executive with Guyoung Tech USA did not immediately reply to a similar request.

The company’s first U.S. manufacturing plant is in Evergreen. That 120,000-square-foot stamping plant opened in 2006 and has more than 100 employees, according to the company’s website.

Hyundai’s car parts weave through a wide network of suppliers during the production process before being delivered to HMMA to be used during final vehicle assembly, at exactly the time they’re needed. Guyoung Tech USA is now one small part of that network here, a supply chain that employs more people in central Alabama than HMMA itself.

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In 2014, Guyoung Tech USA faced $68,000 in proposed fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after federal inspectors found dangerous working conditions at the Evergreen plant. Those fines were later reduced to $30,000.

Guyoung Tech was founded in 1989. It has an office in Detroit and other facilities in China and Korea.

HMMA slowed its production line this fall to adjust to weaker sedan demand. It also cut some temporary employees and scaled back its work days. Plant spokesman Robert Burns said in early November that none of the facility's 2,800 full-time employees had been laid off.

A few days later, trade magazine BusinessKorea reported that Hyundai planned to pour $270 million into upgrades at the Montgomery plant to start building the Tuscon SUV here early next year. The report cited anonymous sources within the industry.

Hyundai Motor said in a statement at the time that the company had not made any decisions about production changes at HMMA.