Hundreds of cars are parked along the water next to the Hyundai plant, ready to be driven on to the transport ship.Courtesy of manufacturer
Outside Hyundai Motor Group’s sprawling production facility here, hundreds of cars neatly line the dock, waiting to be driven up a long steel ramp and onto a building-sized container ship. The largest of these vessels, built by Hyundai Glovis, can transport up to 10,800 vehicles to 21 different global markets.
The dock feels like it goes on forever. Data sheets affixed to every windshield indicate final destinations. Some vehicles are headed to Canada – mostly small crossovers like the Tucson and Venue. There’s a Genesis G90 going to Saudi Arabia and a small H100 pickup bound for Costa Rica.
The Ulsan plant is the largest single automobile production facility in the world. It’s the only one with its own shipping dock, a luxury that enables the company to produce and ship cars faster and more cost-effectively. Output averages 6,000 cars per day, or about one every 10 seconds, of which 60 per cent are exported.
Total production sits at a staggering 1.5 million cars a year – nearly double that of Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant in Germany, the second largest in the world. That figure also surpasses the total number of cars assembled annually across all automotive plants in Canada. Ulsan alone accounts for 79 per cent of Hyundai’s global production.
Between all the factories, about 6,000 vehicles roll of the line each day.Courtesy of manufacturer
The biggest of the Hyundai Glovis ships can carry 10,800 vehicles.Courtesy of manufacturer
All Genesis models sold in Canada are built here as are all Hyundai Konas, Ioniq 5s, Tucsons, Palisades and hydrogen-powered Nexos.
The sprawling Ulsan plant complex comprises five separate assembly factories spanning an area of five million square metres – the equivalent of roughly 700 soccer fields. It employs 31,000 people and utilizes a fleet of 21 buses just to transport workers across the site.
Located about 350 kilometres southeast of Seoul, Ulsan serves as the industrial capital of South Korea. It is also home to Hyundai’s steel production facilities, which supply the plant with raw materials for the vehicle bodies. Even the massive container ships are built up the street at Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipyard in the world.
We toured Factory 5, which assembles Genesis sedans, while Genesis SUVs are produced down the road in Factory 2.
Inside, there’s little commotion – only the constant whir of machinery and the orderly flow of parts and vehicle bodies above and below. Workers move at a relaxed but steady pace, assisted by robots for heavy work such as installing windshields and doors.
All Genesis models sold in Canada are made at this plant in South Korea.Courtesy of manufacturer
Production moves across four primary stages: stamping, welding, painting and assembly. During assembly, workers attach tens of thousands of components to the painted shells to form a completed vehicle. The line we saw can produce 26.7 units per hour. Particularly brilliant to see was the “marriage” process, where the assembled body mates with the undercarriage containing the engine, transmission and suspension.
Factory 4 was the first to open at Ulsan in 1968, producing Hyundai’s first vehicle, which was actually a Ford Cortina built under license. Without a conveyor system, production was done almost entirely by hand.
In 1975, Ulsan began production of Hyundai’s first car with its name on it – the Pony – which became South Korea’s first domestically designed and produced vehicle.
The second-generation Pony went on sale in Canada for the 1984 model year as one of the cheapest new cars on the market. It was a deal too good for Canadians to resist; buyers purchased 25,000 of them in the first year – five times as many as Hyundai expected to sell. By 1985, the Pony earned the title of Canada’s best-selling car, with more than 50,000 sold.
Hyundai Motor Group, including Kia and luxury brand Genesis, is ranked as the third-largest automaker in the world – trailing only Volkswagen and Toyota – with 7.27 million units sold in 2025.
Canada is Hyundai’s second-largest export market behind the United States, with a record 154,405 units sold in 2025, which includes Genesis models. The Tucson alone sold 41,840 units, making it one of the best-selling compact crossovers in the country last year.
A brand-new electric vehicle plant at Ulsan is expanding the facility’s footprint even further. As operations scale up, it is expected to produce the new Genesis flagship SUV, which is set to make its global debut in September.
A Genesis SUV near the end of the production line at Factory 2.Courtesy of manufacturer
The writer was a guest of the automaker. Content was not subject to approval.