Hyundai considers assembly plant sites

DAYTON, Ohio, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A delegation of Hyundai Motor Co. executives toured farmland north of Dayton and a 1,600-acre site east of Cincinnati late last week but did not let on whether the Korean automaker will build its first U.S. assembly plant in Ohio.

Hyundai also is looking at land in Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi. In a statement issued Friday, Hyundai thanked the "governors, economic development officials and the congressional delegations from each of the states for their hard work ..." during the selection process.

"We look forward to completing our evaluation process and announcing the location of our first manufacturing facility in the United States," said Chung Mong-koo, chairman of South Korea's largest carmaker.

Gov. Bob Taft led Hyundai President Kim Ding-jin on a tour of a site in Mount Orab on Thursday and the Korean executives visited a site south of Wapakoneta Friday near an interstate highway and a CSX rail line.

"I believe that the team from South Korea is very impressed with the site," Taft told Monday's Dayton Daily News. "The location of this site sells itself, along I-75, 'auto alley,' where there are more auto manufacturers and supplies than anywhere else in America."

Hyundai plans to dramatically expand its presence in the North America and is expected announce the site for a $1 billion assembly plant with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year by June. The plant would employ about 2,000 workers begin production in 2005.