Why Kia Is Now Making Sportage Hybrid in U.S.Kia (Kia)The 2026 Sportage Hybrid is now rolling off the line at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, the first Kia to do so. It's also the first hybrid to emerge from the new Georgia plant that started making electric vehicles in early 2025 and is seen as a gamechanger for the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands.The Metaplant also assembles the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 EVs. It was designed to build 10 different models for all three brands. That could include future body-on-frame models, extended-range hybrids, and potentially even humanoid robots.The Sportage hybrid had been coming solely from South Korea; adding local production avoids paying U.S. import tariffs on a popular SUV. It also helps solve the problem of not having enough hybrids. Inventory was particularly low last year and has improved. While the 79,000 Sportages sold in the U.S. through May are up about six percent, having more hybrid inventory made sales balloon by more than 100 percent in recent months, said Kia North America and Kia America president and CEO Sean Yoon. Adding hybrids to the Metaplant is timely and should take sales to the next level, he said at an event to celebrate the start of production.AdvertisementAdvertisementAt the nearby West Point plant, also in Georgia, Kia recently added production of the Telluride hybrid, which is outselling the gas-powered version. The West Point facility makes five models: the gas-powered Sportage, Kia Sorento, Telluride, and electric Kia EV9 and EV6. The West Point plant broke ground in 2006, began production in 2008, and now employs about 3,200 workers.Kia now has capacity to build more than 550,000 vehicles in the state annually; 350,000 at West Point and 200,000 at the Metaplant where Kia will get 40 percent of production and add another model or two in the future, Yoon says. The target is for 50 percent of U.S. sales to be built in the same country within two years.Massive Metaplant in Georgia.Kia (Kia)Need to Make More HybridsThe Metaplant has about 2,000 employees and lots of room and plans for expansion. The Hyundai Group will increase capacity by another 30,000 units a year and add a second plant to the campus for an additional 250,000 vehicles for a total of 580,000 units, says Chris Sussock, chief manufacturing officer for Hyundai North America. A second shift was added recently to prepare for increased production.The original intent was to be an EV-only plant, starting with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9. "Midway through construction we decided we needed to pivot," said Sussock. The plant was tooled to make hybrids as well as EVs to balance the mix to meet changing market demands. Advanced automation gives the plant the ability to switch what it is building on a dime, he says.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Metaplant is still ramping up in an environment where EV sales are not growing as fast as originally anticipated. But Kia will continue to pursue an EV strategy, Yoon said. Having watched pure EV sales soar, then suddenly collapse, and then grow again, he said the company's strategy will follow market trends.Flexibility is key and Kia wants to be ready with a variety of powertrains: combustion engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, battery electric, and "sooner or later" it will add extended-range hybrids where the gas engine acts as a generator. When? "When the market needs it," Yoon says.Underbody assembly at the Metaplant.Kia (Kia)Building the Kia Sportage HybridThe first Kia Sportage hybrid came out of the Metaplant just over a month ago. It was added to the second general assembly line that also makes the Ioniq 9. Right now, the line is building four Sportages for every Ioniq 9. The plant is running at about half capacity; it shipped almost 6,000 vehicles last month, so it is not overly busy and there is a lot of room for planned expansion. It will be fully ramped up in 2028.Until the plant can make enough Sportage hybrids to meet demand in the U.S. and Canada, Kia will continue to import them from Korea—likely for another two years. Sportage plug-in hybrids will continue to come from Korea indefinitely. Versions with just the gas engine will continue to be made at West Point. Currently 53 percent of Sportage sales are combustion engine, 44 percent are hybrid, and 3 percent are plug-in hybrids.Automated guided vehicles transport vehicles.Kia (Kia)Metaplant is Company's New BenchmarkThe Metaplant is the Hyundai Motor Group's most advanced facility and the benchmark for future plants globally, Yoon says.AdvertisementAdvertisementWith its sage green buildings, the Metaplant is modern, clean, airy, well air-conditioned, and highly automated with extensive use of robots and AI. Human workers are concentrated on the final assembly line.It all starts with rolls of steel that come into the Hyundai Steel building on site. The steel is rolled into blanks which become stamped parts with huge dies that a crane lifts into the stamping area where a giant machine can press 15 panels a minute. They are loaded onto racks and two days later are sent to welding. The plant has enough stamping capacity for its planned expansion.Alisa Priddle - MotorTrend (Alisa Priddle - MotorTrend)Almost everything that moves is automated. There are 500 robots on each of the two weld lines in the body shop—as compared with the West Point plant that has a total of 600 robots in the entire facility. The Metaplant has Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) everywhere. When carrying parts, they attach to the line and stay until they are depleted and replaced with a full one. Completed bodies ride on automated pallets and run through a light tunnel where human hands feel for imperfections to be sanded before the body continues to the paint shop where it will spend six to eight hours having a gallon of paint applied per vehicle.A pair of robot dogs walk around cars, opening their mouths to scan QR codes to verify the trim level before the vehicle continues to General Assembly. Robots remove and reinstall doors—Kia says it is the only plant to do this. Automation has assumed many of the tasks that are awkward or heavy and could be damaging to a worker over time, like installing seats or tires. Employees instead perform jobs requiring refined movements like installing wiring. The vehicles are on lifts to be hoisted up or down as needed. The floor on the line is wood, which is easier on joints.A booth at the Metaplant used to test for watertightness.Kia (Kia)Battery Plant Now in OperationBatteries come in from the on-site joint venture with LG. They arrive on the second floor and are lowered and married to the body of the Sportage hybrid. The battery plant just started production in the last couple weeks. There is also a parts building that houses an hour's worth of parts at any given time.AdvertisementAdvertisementParking robots take the finished vehicle to the quality area, guided by a QR code—it means fewer people getting in and out. After inspection, every vehicle does get a person behind the wheel to take it onto the test track to check for squeaks and rattles.All vehicles are headed for dealerships in the U.S. and Canada. If the distance is under 500 miles it goes by truck, longer journeys occur by rail. There is a parking lot covered by 1,700 solar panels to protect vehicles awaiting shipment while generating electricity for the plant.The huge complex includes a medical center, fire truck, and exhibition hall that, when completed, will be open to the public to see technology and how vehicles are assembled. Also still to be developed is a huge eco-park that will have plants and water and hiking trails for employees to enjoy. Kia also built a huge water tower for the complex and future businesses and development expected in the area.
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