Customer Story
How Hyundai Motor America Modernized U.S. Sales Tax Compliance During SAP S/4HANA Migration
Products
Revenue
Employees
Industry
Countries
Key Success Factors
Al Chan, Senior Tax Manager at Hyundai Motor America, identified critical best practices that ensured successful implementation:
“Cannot be reiterated enough”—HMA started scoping S/4HANA adaptor requirements in early Q1 2025, enabling successful installation and implementation by Q2-Q3 2025 for internal testing.
Overview
Hyundai Motor America (HMA), the U.S. subsidiary of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Company, operates a complex wholesale distribution network serving 855+ independent dealers nationwide. As a leading automotive manufacturer with facilities spanning California, Alabama, and Georgia—including the new $12.6 billion Metaplant America producing up to 500,000 electric vehicles annually—HMA needed a future-proof tax compliance solution to support its SAP S/4HANA migration.
With operations encompassing wholesale vehicle sales, software subscriptions, inspections, and consulting services, HMA required a scalable, automated tax determination engine capable of handling high-volume transactions across all U.S. jurisdictions while maintaining continuous business operations throughout the ERP transformation.
The Challenge
Operating at enterprise scale with complex distribution channels, HMA faced mounting pressures during its SAP S/4HANA migration:
- Manual tax logic maintenance: Legacy processes required constant manual system resets when default settings changed, creating operational risk and slowing down tax teams
- ERP transformation risk: Needed to maintain continuous tax compliance accessibility throughout the S/4HANA testing and migration phases without business disruption
- Complexity at scale: Managing tax determination across 13,000+ U.S. jurisdictions for high-volume daily invoice batches, employee car leases, and diverse product categories
- Limited system integration: Before full GTD utilization, affiliates experienced time-consuming data extraction from SAP for monthly reconciliation and difficulty mapping SKU categories for taxability—creating audit exposure
The company recognized that tax compliance could not be an afterthought in their digital transformation—it had to be a core component of their S/4HANA strategy to de-risk the migration and enable long-term scalability.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Hyundai Motor America implemented Sovos’ comprehensive tax determination platform as part of their S/4HANA migration strategy:
- Sovos GTD (Global Tax Determination): Delivered cloud-native, realtime tax determination with certified SAP S/4HANA integration, running seamlessly with BTP and ECC without middleware requirements.
- SAP Data Mapper: Enabled plug-and-play connectivity for automated tax calculation flows, eliminating technical friction during the ERP transformation.
- Unified tax logic and rules engine: Provided one-stop access for administrators (HAEA) and Accounts Receivable teams to manage dealership addresses, program Goods/Service Codes (GSCs), and handle
new product launches effortlessly. - Real-time rates for all U.S. jurisdictions: Critical for behind-the-scenes employee car lease lookups, dealer transactions, and ensuring accuracy across 13,000+ tax jurisdictions.
- Usage-based pricing and modular design: Made the GERP adaptor installation, testing, and implementation process convenient and efficient for HMA’s administration team.
The Results
Seamless ERP Transformation
- Quick transition: Sovos adaptor installed in test environment (July 2025) with successful go-live on SAP S/4HANA GERP (Q1 2026) with no major disruptions to business units.
- Continuous accessibility: Maintained full GTD functionality throughout entire testing and migration phases, ensuring zero downtime for tax determination.
- Reduced time-to-value: Early scoping in Q1 2025 enabled successful implementation by Q2-Q3 2025, demonstrating cross-functional alignment between Tax and IT.
Operational Efficiency Gains
- Eliminated manual lookups: One-stop convenience for Tax department research replaced time-consuming searches across multiple jurisdiction websites.
- Faster audit preparation: Accelerated retrieval of Sales Transaction Journals and detailed tax rate breakdowns (state/local/city) for reconciliation.
- Streamlined AR processes: Made new product and service launches effortless with constantly updated GSC listings.
- Real-time validation: Daily invoice batches processed through Sovos GTD with automated tax application on taxable SKUs, enabling indirect tax to operate seamlessly in the background.
Risk Mitigation & Compliance
- Increased audit readiness: Comprehensive audit trails and accurate tax rate application across all jurisdictions reduced exposure.
- Improved data accuracy: Full GTD utilization replaced limited affiliate integration that previously caused mapping difficulties and audit risk.
- Seamless integration: Proper SKU category mapping for taxability purposes eliminated previous compliance gaps.
Strategic Business Impact
- De-risked SAP S/4HANA migration: Tax compliance integration prevented transformation delays and ensured continuous operations.
- Future-ready architecture: Cloud-native, scalable infrastructure positions HMA for continued growth and potential global expansion.
- Cross-functional alignment: Successfully demonstrated collaboration between Tax, IT, and operations teams from scoping through go-live.
Key Metrics
Monthly invoices processed
Manual effort reduction
Accuracy improvement
Audit risk reduction
Payback period
Why Sovos?
Hyundai Motor America selected Sovos due to its unique ability to:
- Deliver seamless SAP integration: Fully certified with S/4HANA, BTP, and ECC—critical for supporting HMA’s ERP transformation without middleware complexity or business disruption.
- Provide real-time tax determination at scale: Proven ability to handle high-volume daily transactions across all 13,000+ U.S. tax jurisdictions with continuous accuracy.
- Enable unified administration: One-stop platform for tax logic, Goods/Service Code management, and real-time rate lookups—simplifying operations for tax teams and Accounts Receivable.
- Support with deep compliance expertise: Trusted partner providing ongoing regulatory updates, webinars, and technical support to keep HMA current with evolving tax requirements.
Looking Ahead
By partnering with Sovos for its SAP S/4HANA migration, Hyundai Motor America successfully de-risked its ERP transformation while modernizing its U.S. sales tax compliance infrastructure. The implementation delivered seamless integration, reduced manual effort, improved audit readiness, and positioned HMA for scalable growth.
With Sovos GTD operating continuously in the background, HMA’s indirect tax compliance now runs automatically across its complex dealer network, manufacturing operations, and diverse product lines—enabling the tax team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than manual processes. The successful collaboration between HMA’s Tax and IT teams, combined with Sovos’ deep SAP expertise, created a future-proof tax strategy that turns regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage.
“With technology being more rapid every day, it is of utmost importance that processes be more automated while ensuring accuracies prevail. Given our volume of sales and the number of jurisdictions that HMA has nexus in, it is vital for HMA’s usage of Sovos GTD in order to minimize inefficiencies and delays.”
AI Chan
Senior Tax Manager, Hyundai Motor America