Following a $3 billion investment made by Kia and suppliers, the automaker has officially opened a new manufacturing facility in the northern Mexico state of Nuevo Leon, in Pesqueria.
The factory, which was completed in two years, currently operates at just 25 percent of its maximum capacity, producing around 100,000 cars per year (one every 53 seconds). It employs a single shift, but second and third ones will be added in 2017, when the brand will up production to 300,000 units once the fourth-generation Rio hits the assembly lines.
By the end of 2017, an additional 14,000 workers will be employed by the Kia Motors Mexico plant and supplier firms, and one year later, the facility will operate at full capacity, meaning that 400,000 vehicles will be built annually, backing up Kia’s targeted market share in Mexico of 5 percent by 2020. Approximately 80 percent of the factory’s production is destined for the numerous countries in the region across Latin America and North America, and includes the United States as well.
“The new plant here in Mexico represents the next step in Kia Motors’ ambition to become one of the world’s leading automakers. The innovative design and world-class quality possessed by the cars produced at the Kia Motors Mexico plant will be embraced by our valued customers not only here in Mexico but also in export-bound countries of Latin America and North America“, said Hyundai Motor Group’s chairman, Mong-Koo Chung, who was present at the opening ceremony, along with other Hyundai and Kia officials, and Mexican representatives.
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