As the carmaker transitions away from gasoline-powered automobiles, Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.  K.S.) began construction on Monday on a factory in South Korea dedicated to producing electric vehicles (EVs). The project will have a capacity of 2 trillion won ($1.52 billion).

Hyundai Motor, which, with its subsidiary Kia Corp. (000270. K.S.), is the third largest carmaker in the world based on sales, has said that it intends to commence mass production at the factory during the first quarter of the year 2026. It is anticipated that the building will be finished in 2025.

The facility in Ulsan, located in the southeast of the country, will have an annual capacity of 200,000 units, and the business has stated that the first model it will produce will be an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) under its premium brand Genesis.

The Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Hyundai Motor brand and the Kia and Genesis brands, said in April that it intends to introduce 31 electric vehicle models before 2030.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the facility, which is the automaker’s first new factory in South Korea in 29 years, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group Euisun Chung stated, “I trust Ulsan will be an innovative mobility city that leads the way in the era of electrification.” Ulsan will be the site of the plant.

The Ulsan complex is the largest manufacturing facility that Hyundai has. It features its dock and has an annual production capacity of 1.4 million automobiles, with 1.1 million vehicles sent overseas.

In contrast to several of its competitors, which have scaled back production of electric vehicles owing to increased demand for air conditioning, Hyundai Motor has stated that it would continue with its plans to roll out electric cars.

The Hyundai Motor Group began construction on an electric vehicle (E.V.) and battery facility in the state of Georgia, located in the United States, in the previous year.

When asked if the firm intended to establish more specialized electric vehicle (EV) factories, Hyundai Motor CEO Jaehoon Chang told reporters that the company was focusing on the plants in the United States and South Korea.

In addition, Chang stated that Hyundai was watching the attitude in the E.V. industry but that the company thought the trend for E.V.s was favorable regardless of the challenges posed by a scarcity of charging infrastructure.

General Motors Company (GM.N.) said it would delay production of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra electric pickup trucks at a factory in Michigan by one year. The company cited a decrease in demand for electric vehicles as the reason for the delay. One of the three shifts at the factory where Ford Motor Company (F.N.) manufactures its electric F-150 Lightning pickup vehicle will be temporarily eliminated.

G.M. and Honda (7267.T) said they were discontinuing a $5 billion plan to create lower-cost electric vehicles together last month. On the other hand, Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O) is slowing down plans for a plant to be built in Mexico.