Car Manufacturing Plants in Georgia: A Complete Guide

Published July 30, 2026

Car Manufacturing Plants in Georgia: A Complete Guide

By Lyle Industries Editorial Team

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Car manufacturing plants in Georgia are large-scale vehicle assembly and component production facilities operating across the state, anchored by major OEMs including Kia, Hyundai, and their Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier networks. Georgia ranks among the top U.S. states for automotive manufacturing investment, with more than $26 billion committed to the sector and over 170,000 automotive-related jobs, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development. The state's central Southeast location, deep-water port access at Savannah, and established workforce training programs through the Quick Start initiative have made it a preferred destination for both vehicle assembly and component manufacturing. Dalton-based Lyle Industries, an ISO 9001:2015 certified automotive textile manufacturer founded in 1981, is one example of the specialized suppliers embedded in Georgia's broader automotive supply chain.

Quick answer: Georgia is home to two major vehicle assembly plants — Kia Georgia in West Point and Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Bryan County — plus dozens of Tier 1 suppliers producing components ranging from powertrains to molded carpet flooring systems.

What Car Manufacturing Plants in Georgia Operate Today?

Two primary vehicle assembly plants operate in Georgia as of 2024, supported by a dense network of component suppliers.

Kia Georgia — West Point

Kia Georgia's West Point facility, located in Troup County, is the only Kia assembly plant in the United States. It opened in 2010 after a $1 billion initial investment and produces the Kia Telluride SUV and Kia Sportage. Annual capacity stands at approximately 340,000 vehicles. The plant employs around 3,000 direct workers and supports thousands more through its supplier base. Kia Georgia holds ISO 14001 environmental certification and has invested in on-site solar generation.

Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) — Bryan County

HMGMA, located near Savannah in Bryan County, represents the largest single economic development project in Georgia history. The $7.59 billion facility began commercial production in 2024 and targets 300,000 electric vehicles per year at full capacity, producing the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Hyundai IONIQ 6. The adjacent Meta-Z battery module plant, a joint venture between Hyundai and SK On, supplies battery packs directly to the assembly line.

Key Facts: Georgia's Major Assembly Plants

Plant Location OEM Primary Models Annual Capacity
Kia Georgia West Point Kia Motors Telluride, Sportage ~340,000 units
HMGMA Bryan County Hyundai Motor Group IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6 ~300,000 units (target)

Beyond assembly, Porsche Cars North America maintains its U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, and several Class 6–8 commercial vehicle manufacturers, including Blue Bird Corporation in Fort Valley, produce school buses and specialty vehicles within the state.

Why Do Car Manufacturing Plants Choose Georgia?

Georgia attracts car manufacturing plants through a combination of infrastructure, logistics, and trained labor that few other southeastern states can match.

Port of Savannah is the third-busiest container port in the United States, according to the Georgia Ports Authority. Finished vehicles and auto parts move through its Colonel's Island Terminal, which handled 667,000 vehicle units in fiscal year 2023. This port access cuts shipping times for parts arriving from South Korea, Japan, and Germany.

Quick Start workforce training, administered by the Technical College System of Georgia, has trained over 1.2 million workers since 1967. OEM plants including Kia Georgia used Quick Start programs to pre-train production staff before the West Point facility opened, reducing ramp-up time by months.

Interstate highway access positions Georgia facilities near I-85, I-75, and I-20, connecting plants to component suppliers in Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina within four hours.

State incentives include the Georgia Job Tax Credit, which awards up to $4,000 per job created in designated counties. Bryan County, where HMGMA sits, qualifies for the highest tier of this credit.

The result is a vertically integrated automotive ecosystem: OEM assembly plants anchor large geographic clusters of Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 suppliers. Those suppliers — producing seats, carpet systems, wire harnesses, and stamped metal components — locate within 60–90 minutes of the assembly plant to support just-in-time delivery schedules.

How Do Tier 1 and Tier 2 Suppliers Support Georgia's Auto Plants?

Georgia's car manufacturing plants depend on a tiered supply chain that produces the thousands of individual components assembled into finished vehicles.

Tier 1 suppliers deliver complete systems directly to OEM assembly lines. Magna International, Lear Corporation, and Hanon Systems all operate facilities in Georgia, producing door modules, seating systems, and thermal management components respectively.

Tier 2 suppliers provide raw materials and sub-components to Tier 1 plants. Automotive textile manufacturers sit at this level, producing molded carpet flooring, interior trim systems, and floor mats that Tier 1 interior suppliers then integrate into door panels and cargo areas.

Lyle Industries, headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, has supplied automotive textile carpet to OEM and aftermarket customers for over 40 years. The company operates three manufacturing plants and holds ISO 9001:2015 certification, which satisfies the quality management system requirements that OEM audit programs demand from supplier partners. With 34.5 million square yards of tufting capacity per year, Lyle Industries supports production volumes consistent with the output scales of plants like Kia Georgia and HMGMA.

Dalton's position as the "Carpet Capital of the World" is not coincidental. The region's established yarn spinning, tufting, and finishing infrastructure — built over decades serving residential flooring — translates directly into automotive textile production. Lyle Industries applies this manufacturing depth to tufting configurations including 1/10 Gauge and 5/64 Gauge systems, precision CNC cutting via Lectra technology, and finishes ranging from latex backing to thermal bonding and moisture barriers.

How Are Car Manufacturing Plants in Georgia Shifting to EVs?

Georgia's car manufacturing plants are at the center of the U.S. electric vehicle transition, with more committed EV investment than any other single state as of 2023, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

HMGMA's Bryan County plant was designed from the ground up for EV production. The facility uses AI-assisted robotic assembly stations and produces no combustion vehicles. Battery assembly occurs at the adjacent Meta-Z plant under a Hyundai-SK On joint venture, shortening the battery supply chain to meters rather than miles.

Kia Georgia has announced plans to retool the West Point facility to produce EV models, building on the existing Telluride and Sportage lines. Kia's parent, Hyundai Motor Group, has committed to producing 1.2 million EVs annually in the United States by 2030, with Georgia plants central to that target.

The EV shift has downstream consequences for suppliers. Electric vehicles use roughly 30% fewer overall components than internal combustion vehicles, according to a 2022 analysis by the Center for Automotive Research. Interior components — carpet systems, trim panels, acoustic flooring — remain essential regardless of powertrain type, sustaining demand for automotive textile suppliers. Acoustic performance actually increases in priority for EVs because the absence of engine noise makes road and floor noise more perceptible to occupants, raising the technical specifications for molded flooring systems.

This dynamic strengthens the position of Georgia-based automotive textile manufacturers who can meet tighter acoustic and dimensional tolerances.

Where Are the Key Automotive Manufacturing Regions Within Georgia?

Georgia's automotive activity concentrates in three distinct geographic corridors.

West Georgia / I-85 Corridor Troup County (West Point) anchors this corridor. Kia Georgia's plant sits here, and over 40 supplier facilities have located within a 50-mile radius since 2010. The corridor extends into LaGrange and Columbus, where commercial vehicle and component manufacturers operate.

Coastal Georgia / Savannah Region Bryan County and Chatham County form the coastal cluster. HMGMA's assembly plant in Bryan County, combined with the Port of Savannah in Chatham County, makes this the fastest-growing automotive zone in the state. The Georgia Ports Authority expanded Colonel's Island Terminal specifically to handle HMGMA's vehicle export volumes.

Northwest Georgia / Carpet Country Whitfield County (Dalton) and surrounding counties in northwest Georgia host the state's deep base of textile and flooring manufacturers who supply automotive interiors. Lyle Industries operates from Dalton in this corridor, applying 40+ years of tufting and finishing expertise to automotive carpet systems for OEM and aftermarket customers across North America.

Fort Valley (Peach County) adds a fourth pocket of activity: Blue Bird Corporation has manufactured school buses and specialty commercial vehicles there since 1927, making it one of Georgia's oldest continuous automotive manufacturing operations.

These corridors function as clusters rather than isolated sites. Workforce, logistics infrastructure, and supplier relationships build on each other within each corridor, reducing friction for new manufacturers entering the market.

What Should OEM Suppliers Know About Georgia's Auto Manufacturing Ecosystem?

Suppliers entering Georgia's automotive market face a procurement environment shaped by stringent OEM quality requirements, just-in-time delivery schedules, and long-term sourcing contracts.

Quality certification is a baseline requirement. ISO 9001:2015 certification is the minimum threshold for most Tier 1 and OEM procurement programs. IATF 16949, the automotive-specific extension of ISO 9001, is required for direct OEM suppliers at plants like Kia Georgia and HMGMA. Lyle Industries maintains ISO 9001:2015 certification, supporting the audit trail requirements that downstream OEM customers impose.

Traceability matters as much as quality certification. OEM plants conduct regular supplier audits and require material-level traceability, from raw fiber to finished carpet part. Lyle Industries' production systems maintain full material and production traceability to satisfy these requirements.

Dimensional accuracy in cut components is non-negotiable. Molded carpet and interior trim parts fit within assemblies with tolerances measured in millimeters. Lyle Industries uses Lectra CNC cutting systems and press-based cutting to achieve repeatable dimensional accuracy across complex geometries, meeting the specifications that OEM interior system integrators require.

Suppliers considering Georgia should also account for the state's supplier development resources. The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), affiliated with Georgia Tech, provides lean manufacturing consulting and supplier readiness assessments to help manufacturers meet OEM qualification standards before entering sourcing programs.

For automotive textile and carpet manufacturers specifically, proximity to northwest Georgia's fiber and yarn supply base, combined with the state's two major OEM assembly plants, creates a vertically efficient sourcing structure that benefits both cost and lead time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many car manufacturing plants are in Georgia?

Georgia has two major vehicle assembly plants: Kia Georgia in West Point, which opened in 2010 and produces the Kia Telluride and Sportage, and Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Bryan County, which began EV production in 2024. Beyond assembly, Georgia hosts more than 170,000 automotive-related jobs across dozens of Tier 1 and Tier 2 component manufacturing facilities, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

What cars are made in Georgia?

The Kia Telluride SUV and Kia Sportage are assembled at Kia Georgia's West Point facility. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Hyundai IONIQ 6 electric vehicles are produced at HMGMA's Bryan County plant. Blue Bird Corporation in Fort Valley manufactures school buses and specialty commercial vehicles. Georgia does not currently host a passenger car plant for Ford, General Motors, or Stellantis, though those OEMs source components from Georgia-based suppliers.

Is Hyundai building a plant in Georgia?

Yes. Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) is operating in Bryan County, near Savannah. The facility represents a $7.59 billion investment — the largest single economic development project in Georgia history — and targets annual production of 300,000 electric vehicles. Commercial production of the IONIQ 5 began in 2024. An adjacent battery module plant, a joint venture between Hyundai and SK On called Meta-Z, supplies battery packs to the assembly line on-site.

Where is the Kia plant in Georgia?

Kia Georgia's assembly plant is located in West Point, Troup County, in western Georgia near the Alabama border. It is the only Kia vehicle manufacturing plant in the United States. The facility opened in 2010 after an initial investment exceeding $1 billion, employs approximately 3,000 direct workers, and has annual production capacity of roughly 340,000 vehicles. The Kia Telluride, which won numerous North American Car of the Year awards, is exclusively built at this plant.

What automotive suppliers are located in Georgia?

Georgia's automotive supplier base includes Tier 1 companies such as Magna International, Lear Corporation, and Hanon Systems, producing seating systems, door modules, and thermal management parts. At the Tier 2 level, Lyle Industries in Dalton supplies automotive textile carpet, molded flooring systems, and interior trim to OEM and aftermarket customers. Dalton's concentration of tufting and finishing manufacturers makes northwest Georgia a center for automotive interior textile production, with Lyle Industries operating three plants and holding ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Why is Georgia a top state for automotive manufacturing?

Georgia's automotive manufacturing strength comes from four factors: the Port of Savannah, the third-busiest container port in the U.S., which handles vehicle imports and exports efficiently; the Quick Start workforce training program, which has prepared over 1.2 million workers since 1967; interstate highway access via I-85, I-75, and I-20 connecting plants to regional suppliers; and competitive state incentives including the Georgia Job Tax Credit. Together, these factors have attracted over $26 billion in automotive investment, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

Conclusion

Georgia's car manufacturing plants now span the full spectrum of automotive production — from Kia's established SUV assembly in West Point to Hyundai's purpose-built EV facility near Savannah, with a deep supplier base that reaches into Dalton's textile manufacturing corridor. The state's infrastructure, port access, and trained workforce have made it one of North America's most competitive automotive manufacturing regions.

For OEM customers, aftermarket distributors, and accessory manufacturers who need a proven automotive textile carpet supplier embedded in this ecosystem, Lyle Industries has operated from Dalton, Georgia since 1981. Three integrated plants, ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management, and 34.5 million square yards of annual tufting capacity position Lyle Industries to meet the volume and traceability requirements that Georgia's growing OEM supply chain demands.

Contact Lyle Industries through the form on this page to discuss production specifications, part geometries, and material requirements for your automotive flooring or interior trim program.

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