Kia Motors does not intend to build new plants despite increased worldwide demand for its products, the automaker’s co-CEO, Lee Sam-ung told Autonews in a recent presentation. The Korean company will instead focus its efforts on quality.
“Quantitative growth is important, but qualitative growth is also important. We plan to focus on improving product quality and our brand,” Sam-ung said at the launch of the new Rio.
The increased demand for the Korean maker’s cars has forced Kia to add a third shift at its Slovak and US factories, and Sam-ung said that the automaker will try to achieve its 2011 goal of 2.5 million sales (up from 2.1 million in 2010) in spite of the global economic crisis.
“Global demand is expected to deteriorate, but we will launch new models, strengthen local promotions and enhance brand competitiveness to cope”, he said.
Kia’s co-CEO also refuted reports that the company had abandoned electric vehicle development, focusing instead on hybrids. He said that Hyundai and Kia plan to launch all-electric compact cars in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
