Kia Invests Euro1 Billion

Kia Motors Corporation (KMC) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction for its new Euro1 billion manufacturing plant in Zilina, Slovakia. In attendance were executives from Kia Motors, K.J. Yoon, President of Kia Motors, H.Y. Choi, President of the Strategy Coordination Office, and J.I. Park, Chairman of Hyundai Mobis. Attending for the Slovak Republic were Mr. Pavol Hruovsky, Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and Mr. Pavol Rusko, Vice-Premier and Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic, as well as many other dignitaries.

Kia will be building their exclusively invested European assembly and manufacturing operation on a 166 hectare site. The plant will create employment for approximately 2,800 Slovakians and will attract an inflow of capital from Kia suppliers such as Hyundai Mobis. Logistics, parts and supplies that are competitive will be procured locally.

All of the vehicles to be produced at this plant will be Kia models to be sold by Kia’s European dealer network. Vehicles produced at this plant will feature new models currently under development specifically for the European market: one B-class model and one C-class model, both in vehicle segments that are the most popular in Europe. Production is expected to begin in late 2006. From that time, Kia’s plant in Slovakia will have the capacity to manufacture 200,000 vehicles per year with plans to expand production capacity to 300,000 depending on market conditions.

Kia’s plant in Slovakia will feature the latest and most advanced technologies and facilities available today. Moreover, with a high rate of automation and systematic labor management, Kia plans on achieving world-class productivity while producing vehicles of the highest quality.

"This is a special time in Kia’s growing partnership with the Slovak Republic, and with the European consumers whose demand for our products helped make this plant possible," said Yong-Hwan Kim, Kia’s Chief Operating Officer. "This partnership will be mutually beneficial to Kia and to the people of Slovakia, and we appreciate the unflagging support of Prime Minister Dzurinda and the Slovakian government. By breaking ground at this new plant, we are taking one of many progressive steps forward to reaching our goal of becoming a global top five automaker by 2010."