Mexico seems like a really hot place to invest in automotive manufacturing right now, and Kia, having become a pretty big global name, doesn’t want to be left out. Reportedly, the South Korean firm is looking to set up a facility in Mexico that would be able to churn out 300,000 vehicles per year.
Apparently, it’d be a means to cull the supply shortage accused by US dealers.
Kia already builds a model (the Optima sedan – pictured) in the US (in the state of Georgia), while sister brand Hyundai has its own which builds the Santa Fe SUV in Alabama.
Reuters reports the location which has been preliminarily chosen is in Monterrey, and production at the site would kick off some 21 months after they ground is broken.
The brand is also eyeing a new plant in China, as well, strengthened by claims from Korea Investment & Securities auto analyst, Suh Sung-moon, who said “Hyundai and Kia are now more flexible with building new plants as their global manufacturing capacity has reached limits. Without new factories, the duo is expected to lose market share in 2016 for the first time in over a decade.”
By Andrei Nedelea
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