Kia Sportage Hybrid production has started at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant in Ellabell, Georgia, marking the first hybrid model to roll off the line at a site originally planned for pure EVs. The move gives Kia a U.S. production base for the Sportage Hybrid just as hybrid demand continues to outpace some battery-electric forecasts.

Hyundai Motor Group built its big Georgia plant for electric cars, but Kia is now using part of it for something less glamorous and more profitable: the Sportage Hybrid. That pivot says a lot about the current U.S. market. Demand for battery-only vehicles has cooled from the rosy forecasts that drove many factory plans, while hybrids keep selling because they let buyers flirt with electrification without changing their routines.

Sportage Hybrid production in Georgia

Kia says U.S.-market Sportage Hybrid models for the 2027 model year will reach dealers this summer. The Georgia plant will build the core trims:

• LX
• S
• EX
• X-Line
• SX-Prestige

That gives the company a domestic production base for one of its strongest nameplates at exactly the moment U.S. buyers are rewarding efficiency without abandoning gasoline entirely.

The Metaplant is already home to fully electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 production, so this is not a clean break from the original plan. It is a hedge, and a sensible one. Hyundai Motor Group had intended the site to serve multiple electric models across Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, but the softer-than-expected EV market pushed it to diversify the lineup instead of waiting for demand to catch up.

What the Sportage Hybrid gets under the hood

The Sportage Hybrid uses a 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, an electric motor, and a lithium-ion battery with 1.49 kWh of capacity. Combined output is 232 hp, with peak torque rated at 367 Nm. Buyers will be able to choose front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, which is the sort of practical detail that sells crossovers even when the marketing copy gets dramatic.

• Engine: 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline
• Battery: 1.49 kWh lithium-ion
• Output: 232 hp
• Torque: 367 Nm
• Drivetrain: front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive

Kia’s U.S. sales story is getting stronger

Kia North America chief Sean Yoon framed the launch as proof of how important the U.S. is to the brand, and that part is hard to argue with. The company has been leaning on the Telluride and the refreshed Sportage Hybrid as key sales engines, a useful reminder that America still rewards well-packaged, fuel-efficient SUVs more reliably than grand industrial promises.

The open question is how far Hyundai Motor Group will keep bending an EV-first factory toward hybrids if demand stays uneven. For now, the answer looks simple: build what people actually buy, keep the electric line running, and avoid leaving a giant plant waiting for a market that may arrive later than the slide deck said it would.