Deal for $5.5B Hyundai plant in Georgia nears final approval

The Hyundai company logo hangs over a long row of cars at a car dealership in Centennial, Colo., Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The local economic development agency that worked with Georgia officials in recruiting Hyundai Motor Group to build a $5.5 billion electric car plant near Savannah approved its portions of the deal Tuesday, though details of tax breaks and other incentives have yet to be disclosed.

The joint development authority that voted to enter the deal represents four southeast Georgia counties that will give up hundreds of millions in taxes in exchange for at least 8,100 jobs Hyundai has promised to create. Officials said they won’t release details of the incentives package until the state and Hyundai finalize the deal, possibly later this week.

“I think it’s very fair, I think it’s very equitable,” Trip Tollison, who heads the Savannah Economic Development Authority, said of the deal. “I think it represents what the region needs to make the company — the folks moving here with all the jobs — successful.”