• September 15, 2010

Hyundai Motor Company Chairman Chung Mong-Koo told California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that the company will build a new North American headquarters in Orange County -- Hyundai's home since its arrival in the United States in 1985.

The company says it will invest around $150 million on the new edifice to be built on Hyundai's current Fountain Valley campus.

The largest investment by Hyundai in California to date, the new facility will double the size and occupant capacity of the current headquarters. The automaker says construction begins next year and will be completed by the end of 2012. Hyundai employees will work from a temporary office space in Orange County during that time.

Hyundai says it employs approximately 1,400 people in California, and it has 63 franchised California dealers.