A little over a year after announcing plans for building their first manufacturing plant in Mexico, KIA has finally finished putting the structure together in Pesqueria, Nuevo Leon.
It took just 13 months for the $3 billion investment to see the light of day, officially becoming the fastest construction completed by the South Korean manufacturer in its entire history. The new state-of-the-art plant should have an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles, creating around 70,000 new long-term jobs in Mexico.
With the project now completed, KIA will total 11 manufacturing facilities world-wide – in Korea, China, Slovakia, Russia and the US.
Around 60% of output from the new plant will be exported to North America, while 20% will cover the Mexican market. The remaining 20% will of course be exported to other Latin American countries.
Seong-Bae Kim, KIA Motors Mexico president expects the new facility to “be one of the most environmentally-friendly automotive manufacturing plants in the region. Once mass production commences, it will take less than one minute for a vehicle to come off the assembly line, making our facility among the most productive among all Kia plants globally.”
Out of the previously mentioned 70,000 new jobs, approximately 14,000 of them will be generated directly and 56,000 indirectly.
“Having this plant in operation is great news for our UK market, as it eases up the pressure on Korean production which will allow for a much greater supply for the UK going forward into the next few years,” stated KIA UK CEO Paul Philpott.
One of the most impressive machines found in the new manufacturing complex is a $75 million stamping press that measures 18 meters high and weighs no fewer than 3,862 tons – the largest of any KIA plant.
The facility also comes with LED lighting technology to save energy, as well as an integrated water treatment plant which prevents soil contamination and harmful runoff into the Pesqueria River.
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