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South Korean automobile manufacturerKia maintains 14 manufacturing facilities in eight countries along with research centres in South Korea, the US, Japan, and Germany.[1] Kia has four manufacturing plants in South Korea and additional plants in China, India, Japan, Mexico, Slovakia, the United States and Vietnam.
The Namyang Design Center, located inHwaseong, South Korea, serves as Kia's primary design facility.[2] The facility, which is shared with parent companyHyundai, is located on over 3.3 million square meters of land and serves as the central hub for engineering work encompassing the entire design process, from pre-design studies, prototyping and extensive track testing, and full-scalewind tunnel aerodynamic testing.[3] to crash testing.[4] Kia and Hyundai employees from around the world receive training at the Namyang Center.[4]
The Kia Design Center America inIrvine, California, is located on a 22 acres (8.9 ha) corporate campus[5] with a $130 million initial investment,[5] theIrvine, California Kia Design Center was designed bySkidmore, Owings & Merrill[5] and was completed in 2008, featuring 45 workstations and nine offices.[6] The studio can model up to eight vehicles at once and includes a computerized milling machine that can quickly create full-size models.[6] Work and presentation areas include a 2-D presentation room, "a kind of darkroom in virtual reality where up to three full-size digital images can be projected for evaluation and comparison."[6]
The 239,000-square-foot (22,200 m2) building[5] features a hallmark 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) entry canopy[6] and sits aside a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) reflecting pool.[5] The parking lot includes an environmentally efficientbioswale system to filter water runoff.[5]
The Kia Design Center Europe was opened in 2007 inFrankfurt, Germany. Kia had previously shared a facility with Hyundai inRüsselsheim, Germany.[7] The new headquarters building is located adjacent to Frankfurt's main showground where the city hosts its biennial auto show.[7]
The Hyundai-Kia R&D center in China is located in bothShanghai andYantai.[8]
The Autoland Gwangmyeong (formerly known as Sohari Plant) in Soha-dong,Gwangmyeong is Kia's first integrated automobile manufacturing plant,[9] established in 1973 on 498,908 square metres (5,370,200 sq ft) of land. The plant is near the country's capital ofSeoul inGyeonggi province, with ready access to labor, other resources and transportation facilities, as well as the Seoul metropolitan area.[10]
The factory currently manufactures theKia Carnival,Kia K9/Quoris/K900,Kia EV3,Kia EV9 and will produceKia EV4, with an annual output of 340,000 vehicles.[11]
The Sohari Plant manufactured Kia's first internal combustion engine,[9] followed by the manufacture of its first automobile, theKia Brisa (1974–1982). In 1975, Kia exported its first vehicle, the Brisa pickup, to the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar.[12]
The South Korean government forced Kia to halt car production in 1981, assessing the Korean auto market as too competitive.[13] In 1986, the government allowed the company to resume manufacturing with its agreement to build theFord Festiva for export.[13]
The Sohari Plant manufactured theKia Pride and itsrebadged variants the Ford Festiva[13] andMazda 121, as well as the subsequentKia Avella and its variant, theFord Aspire.
Located in Woojeong-myeon,Gyeonggi Province and established in 1991, the plant covers 3,199,636 square metres (34,440,600 sq ft) of land and manufactures theKia K5,Kia K8,Kia Tasman,Kia Sorento,Kia EV6, andKia Niro.By July 2001, cumulative production passed 3 million. The facility maintains a proving ground with a high-speed oval, 12 different test tracks extending to a total length of 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) and 32 different road surfaces.
Located inGwangju on approximately 1,022,244 square metres (11,003,340 sq ft) of land, the facility produces theKia Soul,Kia Seltos,Kia Sportage, andKia Bongo/K-Series.[14]
FormerlyAsia Motors used this plant until 1999.
For reference, in addition to the Autoland Gwangju, there is a Hanam factory to manufacture military cars andKia Granbird.
Located inSeosan, the facility opened in 2004 as a joint venture withDonghee. It manufactures 230,000 units a year and is the producer of theKia Picanto/Morning andKia Ray.[15]
In December 2007, Kia Motors Corporation opened its manufacturing facility inYancheng,Jiangsu Province, its second plant in China and its second plant in conjunction as a joint venture.[16]Yueda Kia is a joint venture of Kia and China's Jiangsu Yueda. It was originally established as Dongfeng Yueda Kia in 2002, butDongfeng Automotive Group sold its 25% stake to Jiangsu Yueda in 2021.[17][18] The facility is 3.9 million sq.-ft. (367,794 sq.-m)[16] and is located just 2.2 miles (3.5 km) from the joint venture's existing facility.[16] At an initial cost of US$800 million, the fully integrated passenger car production facility will have an annual capacity of 300,000 units, boosting DYK's total annual capacity to 430,000 vehicles.[19]
Kia created a greenfield facility in theAnantapur district ofAndhra Pradesh, opened in 2018. The site occupies 536 acres (2.17 km2) and has facilities for stamping, welding, painting and assembly with annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.[20] Its head office is currently inAmaravathi which is the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. It will also be home to supplier companies’ facilities. The plant currently manufactures theKia Seltos from mid-2019,Kia Sonet from September 2020 andKia Carens for domestic market and exports to emerging markets.[14] The plant also manufactures theKia Carnival exclusively for domestic market.
Located inPesquería, nearMonterrey,Nuevo León, and opened in September 2016,[21] this US$1 billion plant is capable of producing 300,000 cars annually.[22] The facility currently manufactures the third generationForte and the fourth generationRio.[23] In 2024, the Kia Motors Manufacturing Mexico began to assembly the facelifted 2025 NX4Hyundai Tucson instead ofHyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. In 2017, Kia Motors Manufacturing Mexico began to assembly the fifth generationHyundai Accent for the American continent, which was discontinued in 2022.[24] The press factory developed and installed a uniform cushioning device with a high quality stabilization effect by ensuring uniform panel quality. The body shop has achieved 100% welding automation rate with more than 300 robots. In the event of a facility failure, a monitoring system has also been established that allows Korean experts to provide remote support. The paint shop applied an eco-friendly water-soluble method that can paint a total of 15 kinds of colors. The outfitting factory applied a one-kit system using a bridge direct supply method for module parts such as seats and bumpers, and a conveyor.
In 2022, Kia announced an additional $480 million to open at least five new production facilities while $67 million of the existing investment will be used to improve commuting conditions.
Lucky Motor is a Pakistani automobile assembler and distributor owned by theYunus Brothers Group. It currently assembles theKia Picanto,Kia Sportage, Kia Sorento,Kia Grand Carnival,Kia Stonic, andKia Frontier.[25][26][27][28]
In April 2007,[29] Kia opened its first plant in Europe, at the initial cost of €1b, inŽilina,Slovakia, about 200 kilometres north-east ofBratislava, with initial production concentrating around theKia Cee'd model, designed exclusively for the European market, with production later expanding to theKia Venga andKia Sportage. The capacity of the plant is 300,000 units per year.[30] It is one of the few auto factories in the world that is capable of building up to eight different models on the same line, and build ratios can be adjusted to demand.[31] In 2019, Kia's Zilina plant built a system to replace all electricity with renewable energy. In 2020, Kia invested 70 million euros to expand the engine production line at Kia's Zilina plant and dispatched 184 technicians on chartered flights. After the expansion of the engine production line, the company will produce 1.6 GDI engines and 1.6 T-GDI engines. The Kia Zilina plant plans to produce small and mid-sized electric vehicles specialized for the European market from 2025.
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Kia Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG), Kia's plant inWest Point, Georgia, is capable of producing 350,000 cars annually[32] for the North American and global markets. It was announced in 2006 and went online in 2010, with the state of Georgia providing significant incentives.[33] At an initial cost of $1 billion (US)[32] the facility comprises 2.2 million-square-feet[32] on more than 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) of land[32] nearInterstate 85.[34] In addition to four main areas (stamping, welding, paint, and assembly), the facility also includes a transmission shop, module shop, and a two-mile (3 km) test track.[32] The assembly area features more than a half mile of height-adjustable conveyors and wood flooring.
Kia Georgia is home of the Telluride SUV, Sorento SUV, Sportage SUV, all-electric Kia EV6 SUV, and the all-electric EV9 SUV. This advanced manufacturing facility represents a $2.8 billion investment on a 2,200 acre site, operating 24 hours a day.
Kia's Georgia plant recorded cumulative production of 1 million units in 2013 and exceeded 3 million units in September 2019. On December 31, 2021, President Jangsu Shin retired and a new CEO, Stuart Countess, was appointed effective January 2022.
On May 20, 2022, Kia's parent companyHyundai announced plans to construct a newelectric vehicle plant nearSavannah, Georgia.[35] Construction of the sprawling site took two years, with production starting in late 2024, and the site is now dubbed theHyundai Metaplant.
The ADM Jizzakh plant began its work at the end of 2020 with a yearly production capacity of 25,000, it currently producesKia Seltos,Kia K5 andKia K8.
Since 2001,[36] Kia manufactured automobiles as part of a joint venture withTruong Hai Automobile Co. at a factory located inChu Lai,Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam.[37] The site covers 320 hectares (790 acres), and Truong Hai was the first private company in Vietnam to manufacture automobiles, and the first to achieve an annual output of 5,000 automobiles.[36] The facility expanded in 2003 on 38 ha in Tam Hiep Industrial Park with an investment of VND1,900 billion.[36] In 2007, Truong Hai Automobile Co. Ltd became Truong Hai Automobile Joint Stock Company (Thaco), with automobiles marketed as Thaco-Kia. The joint venture produces theHyundai Solati andHyundai County in Chu Lai.
Kia spends 6% of its annual revenues on R&D and also runs research centres in the USA, Japan and Germany.
Although the Zilina facility has been manufacturing Kia cee'd cars since December 2006, Kia Motors Corporation and the Slovakian Government agreed that the construction of this all-new facility, which has created more than 10,000 new jobs in the region, is so immensely significant that it should be formally celebrated.
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