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Hyundai outlines ambitious U.S. growth plans weeks after ICE immigration raid at battery plant
Jose Munoz, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor Company, speaks during a media tour and grand opening at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, March 26, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga.
Mike Stewart | AP
NEW YORK — Hyundai Motor reinforced aggressive growth plans Thursday through the end of the decade, despite lowering its profit outlook for the year due to tariffs.
The new targets call for an operating profit margin this year of between 6% and 7%, down from 7% to 8%, and an increase in revenue of between 5% and 6% — up 2 percentage points — compared with 175.2 trillion South Korean won (US$12.7 billion) in 2024.
The South Korean automaker revised its financial targets Thursday ahead of a CEO investor day in New York City. It is the first time the company has hosted the event outside of South Korea as well as the first time CEO José Muñoz — who was promoted to the top job at the automaker beginning this year — led the meeting.
Along with revising financial targets, the world’s third-largest automaker reconfirmed its ambitious growth plans that include increasing annual sales to 5.55 million by 2030. Such results would mark a roughly 34% increase from its global sales last year of 4.14 million units.
Muñoz opened the meeting by discussing the company’s expansion plans, largely fueled by the U.S., which he called the “engine of growth” for the automaker. Hyundai is currently in the process of investing $26 billion from 2025 to 2028 to expand its operations in America.
“This isn’t just about tariff mitigation, it is about building the most advanced, efficient manufacturing ecosystem in the automotive industry,” he said during the event, adding the U.S. is its largest opportunity for expanding localized manufacturing.
Hyundai aims to have more than 80% of its U.S. vehicle sales be produced locally by 2030. That compares to roughly 40% currently. That is expected to include a Hyundai-developed midsize pickup truck as well as potentially a more rugged SUV than the company currently offers, Muñoz said Thursday.
“I think it’s long overdue,” Muñoz told reporters after the event, calling it “a big opportunity.”
The CEO investor event is occurring at an inopportune time for the company, as well as relations between the U.S. and South Korea.
A masked federal agent wearing a Homeland Security Investigations vest guards a site during a raid where about 300 South Koreans were among 475 people arrested at the site of a $4.3 billion project by Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to build batteries for electric cars in Ellabell, Georgia, U.S. September 4, 2025 in a still image taken from a video.
U.s. Immigration And Customs Enf | Via Reuters
The New York meeting comes weeks after hundreds of workers were arrested during an immigration raid at a jointly owned battery plant between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution in Georgia.
About 475 workers, including more than 300 South Koreans, were arrested in the Sept. 4 raid at the plant in Ellabell, Georgia, according to U.S. immigration officials. Many workers who were detained returned home via a chartered plane following discussions between South Korea and U.S. officials.
Muñoz confirmed Thursday that those detained worked for suppliers, with no Hyundai employees being arrested.
The raid, which was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s history, was conducted over suspicions about “unlawful” visas or immigration status of workers at the site, U.S. officials have said.
At the beginning of the Thursday meeting, Muñoz expressed “our sincere empathy” for the workers and their families who were impacted by the raid. He said he hopes the U.S. and South Korea can work together to resolve the issue and continue the healthy relationship between the two countries.
“As our executive chair said last week, we hope the U.S. and Korea can work on mutually beneficial solutions for short-term business travel, especially for specialized technical expertise,” Muñoz said.
His comments on visas echoed those from Bob Lee, North American president of LG Energy Solution. Lee on Monday said that may be the “one positive” to come from all this and expressed optimism about the company being able to avoid such actions in the future.
“We’re very supportive of this and we’re cautiously optimistic that this type of thing will not happen again,” Lee said at a Center for Automotive Research conference in Detroit.
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A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Al Drago | Getty Images
United Airlines flight attendants approved a new five-year labor contract with 31% average raises to base pay by August and other improvements, marking the last of the major carriers with unionized flight crews to reach a deal post-Covid.
The labor deal would give United’s roughly 30,000 flight attendants their first raises in close to six years. The company and the flight attendants’ union reached a preliminary deal in March. Crews had rejected a contract last year.
The union said the contract won 82% approval from the flight attendants, with close to 90% of them voting.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants.
The contract also includes boarding pay, or pay for when the aircraft’s door is open and travelers are getting on. Airlines had for years started flight attendants’ pay clock once the boarding door was closed.
The contract comes with a roughly 7% to 8% increase in compensation and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements like restrictions on red-eye flights and “sit pay” during disruptions of more than 2½ hours.
Stocks struggled on Tuesday, although blue chips proved resilient, amid a triple whammy of domestic political strife, surging US inflation and a lack of progress in the Middle East.
The FTSE 100 closed down just 4.11 points at 10,265.32. The FTSE 250 ended down 341.66 points, 1.5%, at 22,466.20, and the AIM All-Share fell 11.75 points, 1.4%, at 810.66.
The pound fell to 1.3505 dollars on Tuesday afternoon from 1.3651 dollars on Monday. Against the euro, sterling was lower at 1.1517 euros from 1.1584 euros on Monday.
The yield on UK 10-year gilts traded at 5.10%, up from 5.01% the day before.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defied calls for him to quit, despite a growing number of Labour MPs demanding that he steps aside.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” Sir Keir told ministers during crunch talks over his future, as no one person has stepped forward to challenge him yet.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet,” he added.
More than 80 of Labour’s 403 MPs have now called for Sir Keir to quit immediately, or to set out a timetable for his resignation, including some ministers.
Banks sold off, amid reports of a possible windfall tax on the sector should there be a change at the top of the Government.
“Banks narrowly avoided a higher tax rate at the last budget, but our base case now assumes the UK banking surcharge to increase from 3% to 5%,” said the banking team at JPMorgan.
NatWest fell 3.2%, Lloyds Banking Group dipped 4.4% and Barclays declined 3.6%.
Meanwhile, the surging bond yields weighed on interest rate-sensitive housebuilders, with Barratt Redrow down 4.1% and Taylor Wimpey 2.4% lower.
Adding to the uncertain mood was another spike in the oil price as the impasse in the Middle East carried on.
Iran’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday that Washington must accept Tehran’s latest peace plan or face failure, after US President Donald Trump warned a truce was on the brink of collapse.
“Relations between Washington and Tehran appear to be more strained than at any time since the original ceasefire was announced just over a month ago,” observed David Morrison at Trade Nation, suggesting that hostilities could “resume at any time”.
Brent crude for July delivery was trading at 108.07 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, up compared with 103.70 dollars at the time of the equities close in London on Monday.
In Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 1.0%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt declined 1.6%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 1.0% while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.7% lower.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.46% on Tuesday from 4.39% on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 5.02% from 4.97%.
The impact of the Iran war was reflected in soaring US inflation figures for April.
Annual CPI inflation sped up to 3.8% in April from 3.3% in March, above FXStreet-cited expectations of a 3.7% rise.
Monthly, energy costs were up 5.6% in April after a 21.3% jump in March.
Excluding food and energy costs, core CPI was up 2.8% year-on-year in April, up from 2.6% in March and higher than an expected 2.7%.
Analysts explained that much of the upside in core inflation came from a spike in shelter costs.
TD Economics said the numbers reinforce why the Fed needs to remain “patient”.
“Even assuming a ‘more normal’ reading on shelter prices last month, core inflation would’ve still firmed relative to March. With secondary price effects from higher energy prices likely to intensify in the months ahead, we’re likely to see core measures of inflation drift a bit higher and hover around 3% through year-end,” the broker said.
While Bank of America said the latest increase means inflation is getting “very uncomfortable” for the Fed.
Following the data, Fed futures now place a 60% probability of a rate hike by March next year.
The euro traded slightly lower against the greenback, at 1.1729 dollars on Tuesday from 1.1782 dollars on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 157.73 yen, higher than 157.01 yen.
Back in London, Vodafone fell back 7.0% after mixed full-year results with adjusted earnings short of hopes but adjusted cash flow ahead.
“In the stock market it’s often said that it’s better to travel than arrive, hence why shares in Vodafone dipped on robust-looking full-year results after a strong rally in the past 12 months,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
Vodafone shares have risen 60% in the last 12 months.
Intertek led the risers, up 6.4%, as it said it was “reviewing” the latest takeover proposal from suitor EQT Fund Management Sarl.
Intertek has turned down three previous approaches from EQT.
On the FTSE 250, Greggs rose 8.0% after reporting higher sales in the opening weeks of 2026 and maintaining full-year expectations.
But Wickes plunged 12% after reporting mixed trading as wet weather weighed on retail demand at the start of 2026.
Gold traded lower at 4,663.87 dollars an ounce on Tuesday, from 4,733.27 dollars on Monday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Intertek, up 320.00p at 5,300.00p, British American Tobacco, up 255.00p at 4,634.00p, Compass Group, up 1.74p at 31.93p, Imperial Brands, up 104.00p at 2,832.00p and London Stock Exchange Group, up 328.00p at 9,348.00p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Vodafone Group, down 8.45p at 111.95p, 3i Group, down 116.00p at 2,400.00p, St James’s Place, down 52.50p at 1,154.50p, Lloyds Banking Group, down 4.28p at 94.06p and Marks & Spencer, down 13.60p at 308.90p.
Wednesday’s global economic calendar has eurozone industrial production and GDP data, the King’s Speech in the UK and US PPI figures.
Wednesday’s local corporate calendar has a trading statement from Spirax Group.
Contributed by Alliance News
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