In a brief, internal celebration today, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) marked its 1,000,000th Alabama-built Sonata — a 2012 limited edition 2.0 turbo with a radiant silver paint finish. Team Members at the Montgomery, Ala. assembly plant cheered as President and CEO Young Deuk Lim drove the Sonata off the quality inspection line with Vice President Production Ashley Frye and Robert Coleman, HMMA’s Team Member of the year in the passenger seats.
“I am so proud of everything our Team Members have accomplished in the past six years, eclipsing 1,000,000 total vehicles manufactured in November 2009, producing more than 300,000 vehicles in 2010 and now our 1,000,000th Sonata,” said President Lim. “This milestone provides us an opportunity celebrate our many achievements and take pride in knowing our Hyundai spirit is alive and ready to reach any goal we set for ourselves.”
HMMA has benefitted from the enormous popularity of the Sonata in the U.S. marketplace. Its perennial role as Hyundai’s top seller has contributed to the plant operating beyond its original capacity of 300,000 units for nearly two years.
The plant has produced three different vehicles since 2006, the Sonata, Santa Fe and Elantra. Mass production of the Sonata began at the site on April 5, 2005. The plant built the Santa Fe from April 2006 until August 2010. The Elantra sedan joined the Sonata in November 2010.
More than 2,500 Team Members are employed at the plant. Since production began in 2005, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama has built more than 1.4 million vehicles.