Hyundai Motor's first manufacturing plant in Indonesia is open for business, as the Korean automaker eyes expansion into the Southeast Asian region.
 
The automaker held a dedication ceremony of the plant in the Deltamas industrial complex outside Jakarta on Wednesday, attended by Indonesian President Joko Widodo and company chairman Chung Euisun.

In a speech, Chung said Hyundai Motor will contribute toward Indonesia's goal of building an electric vehicle ecosystem, positioning the fourth most populous country as a key player on the global market. 

Following the opening of the plant, Hyundai Motor plans to aggressively expand its presence in the Southeast Asian market, in which Japanese automakers have enjoyed a dominant share of over 70 percent.

Built on a 770-thousand-square-meter site, the new plant will produce the all-electric IONIQ 5, with other models to follow. It has an annual production capacity of 150-thousand units, though Hyundai said it intends to invest one-point-55 billion dollars to raise the capacity to 250-thousand units.

The IONIQ 5 is the archipelago state's first domestically-produced EV. It will be used -- together with the electric version of the Genesis G80 -- as official vehicles for the G20 Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in November.
 
The Indonesian government has been eager to convert public vehicles into EVs, providing tariff and tax benefits to EV producers in the country.
 
To better cater to Indonesia’s EV localization strategy, Hyundai is working with LG Energy Solution to build a battery cell factory in the Southeast Asian country.