Hyundai in High Gear Part 2: Meet workers who’ve been at the plant since the beginning

Darryl Hood,

Posted: May 20, 2025 3:35 PM CDT

Updated: May 22, 2025 9:25 AM CDT

20 years, that’s how long the Hyundai plant has been in existence in Montgomery.

At least two things haven’t changed since the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Plant began operations in 2005. Its employees: Jeffery Granville and Mark Wyatt. Both have been here since day one.

But in that time, things have changed.

“Today our production time is way faster now, we have more robots and team members and the efficiency of building that unit is way better than 2005,” Jeffery Granville, a Hyundai Team Member, told Action 8 News.

Since that first 2006 Sonata rolled off the line, the time to build a unit or car like the Genesis GV 70 has gone down from 15 hours to 8 hours. They can build 1,600 cars a day. “It’s more tech know now and we have the electrical unit that we build in the GV 70 so it’s very different from the 2006 Sonata that we built,” said Granville.

“The plant has expanded several times over the 20 year period. Every few years the cars change, the parts change, the looks of the cars change and the types of cars that we’ve built over the years have changed,” said Mark Wyatt, a Hyundai Team Member.

So have the number of people working for HMMA. About 4,200 employees, compared to 2,000 when it first opened, currently play a role in getting each new unit off the line, including Hyundai Team Member Mark Wyatt. “No one person can build a car, it takes a team of people to build a car, and that’s one thing that kind of stuck with me. It takes a team, truly a team effort when you do this kind of work.”

Jeffery Granville knows what its like to be part of a team. Though the years each of his three daughters have come to work with him at HMMA. “I’m very proud to have them follow in my footsteps. To have all 3 of my daughters working here, very proud,” said Granville.

Another thing that’s changed, there’s another Hyundai plant in North America. The Hyundai Meta Plant outside Savannah, Georgia, opened in April 2025. It’s going to focus on Hybrid and EV models.