Hyundai employees at the new Alabama plant on Friday. (AFP)

Montogomery, May 21 (Reuters): Hyundai Motor Company has officially inaugurated its first car assembly plant in the US on Friday and expects its American sales to soar up by about 16 per cent this year to 485,000 vehicles, said Bob Cosmai, head of Hyundai Motor America.

The new plant has, however, been in operation for some time. The Korean automaker will start selling its Sonata sedans, built at the new Alabama plant, from Saturday, Cosmai told reporters at the plant.

Hyundai?s sales in the US increased 364 per cent in the last six years making it the fourth largest import brand in the country.

Last year, the company sold 418,615 vehicles in the country. Cosmai said 2005 would be another record year.

Hyundai's move to Alabama creates the third plant in the southern state, far from the traditional union-friendly mid-west states where the US automakers base most of their facilities. Alabama's low-cost advantage has already convinced DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes and Honda Motor Company to build their factories there.

?When this plant reaches capacity, Alabama will be the third largest producer of automobiles in America,? Alabama governor Bob Riley said.

Hyundai plans to assemble 80,000 Sonatas at the plant this year, and, from next year, it will start manufacturing the new Santa Fe sports utility vehicle at the facility, which has a capacity to build 300,000 vehicles annually, Cosmai said.

While slower sales have forced Ford Motor and General Motors to prune vehicle production in North America, Asian automakers have been expanding there. Toyota Motor this week said it would build a hybrid version of its popular Camry sedan at its assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, from next year.

?We put a pencil to that issue before starting the plant. The cost of production of a vehicle in Korea is about the same as it is here. It is pretty comparable,? Cosmai said.

Founder passes away

Chung Seyung, the founder of Hyundai Motor, died of pneumonia in Seoul today, Hyundai Development Company said.

He was 78. Chung Seyung, who was a brother of the late Hyundai group founder Chung Juyung, had set up Hyundai motor in 1967 and turned the company into the world's fifth largest car manufacturer.