Hyundai's Santa Fe SUV, now made at its plant in Montgomery, Ala., soon could be made at sister company Kia's plant in West Point, Ga.
The Kia plant has produced the Sorento SUV since October. If it gets the Hyundai work, it might be employing as many as 3,500 people a year from now.
Kia and Hyundai are not announcing the production shift yet. But two Hyundai auto-parts suppliers are reportedly planning to cut workers or move them to West Point.
The Alabama Office of Workforce Development confirmed Thursday that one of the companies, Jay Mid-South in Gadsden, will lay off 75 employees because of the production shift, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Jay Mid-South is basically doing what they need to do based on projected scenarios, but there won’t be any official announcement until July,” Robert Burns, a spokesman for Hyundai in Montgomery, told the AJC.
Hyundai has built autos in Alabama since 2005. Kia began production last October in West Point, about 80 miles from Hyundai and just across the Georgia state line. Both are owned by Kia Motors Corp. of South Korea.
Hyundai has done quite well with the Santa Fe, posting a 53 percent rise in sales from February 2009 to February 2010. Kia's redesigned Sorento is the brand's top seller, with 8,200 units moved in February.
The Kia plant employs 1,200 in West Point.
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