LG Hausys Ltd., South Korea's largest decorative industrial materials manufacturer, said Monday that it has started building an autoskin plant in the United States, to better make inroads into the world's second-largest new car market.

The company said it has earmarked US$40 million to build the plant in Adairsville, in the northwestern part of Georgia, and once work is completed in late 2015, it will be in a better position to provide interior materials to carmakers such as Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM, Chrysler and Ford.

The plant, which should start full-scale production in 2016, is designed to churn out 6 million square meters of autoskins annually.

Autoskin refers to the materials used in instrument panels, door trims and seat covering skins.

LG Hausys said that it got the land for its plant free of charge from the local government and has been given considerable tax incentives to build the production line that can benefit the local economy. (Yonhap)