An employee works on a ship under construction in the dry dock at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest carmaker, says it will increase its investment in the US by 50 per cent over the next five years, to $3.1bn, as it seeks to capitalize on pledges by President-elect Donald Trump to boost the American economy.



The announcement comes just three days before the swearing-in of Mr Trump, who has threatened to slap hefty taxes on Mexican-built vehicles imported into the US.



Hyundai denied that the investment was a response to an intensifying Twitter assault by Mr Trump on global automakers for producing cars and investing in Mexico rather than in the US, but rather a reflection of the importance of the US market.



"We expect a boost in the US economy and increased demand for various models as president-elect Trump follows through on his promise to create 1m jobs in five years," Chung Jin-haeng, president of Hyundai Motor, told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday.



The company, and its affiliate Kia Motors — which together rank as the world's fifth-largest carmaker by sales — join a growing list of automakers to announce investments in the US in recent weeks.



Earlier this month, Japanese car group Toyota announced it would sink $10bn into the US market. That came hot on the heels of an announcement by Ford that it would cancel a planned $1.6bn plant in Mexico and instead build the facility in Michigan.