Hyundai's Alabama plant produces 1 millionth vehicle By Dawn Kent -- The Birmingham News November 30, 2009, 10:21AM Korean automaker Hyundai marked a milestone in Alabama today, as workers at the Montgomery factory produced its 1 millionth vehicle. No. 1 million is a white 2010 Sonata. Montgomery's Carver Senior High School drum line played and employees cheered as the milestone vehicle ceremoniously rolled off the plant's assembly line. H.I. Kim, president and CEO of the Alabama factory, drove the vehicle. Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, who helped bring Hyundai to Alabama as then-director of the Alabama Development Office, said Hyundai produces a "class product" in Alabama and he congratulated the plant's employees. "Thank you for this millionth...this is just the beginning. We look to the future," Strange said. Hyundai, which employs more than 2,700 people at the $1.4 billion plant, has distinguished itself during the global auto sales slump with high profile ads and incentives programs. In October, the company's overall U.S. sales surged 49 percent over the year-ago period. The plant, which opened in the spring of 2005, produces Sonata sedans and Santa Fe SUVs.