Kia announces US assembly plant
Korean
automaker Kia has announced that it will build a plant here in the US, joining its corporate sibling Hyundai in the
southeast. Rumors that
Georgia was the preferred site turned out to be true, with somewhere around $1.5B expected to be invested into the
West Point site. Vehicles will roll out of the Peach State starting in 2009, with 300,000 units per year being built by
2,500 workers. Local suppliers that will be set up in the surrounding region will result in an additional 2,000 jobs.
The location of the site will somewhat ease logistics, with the plant's location on the west side of the state meaning that Hyundai's Alabama site is not far away (about 85 miles or a two-hour drive). A key factor in the decision to build a US plant is the strength of the Korean won relative to the dollar, which has greatly impacted Hyundai's profitability.
Kia expects its US sales to grow from 350,000 vehicles in 2006 to 800,000 units in 2010, which would help Hyundai reach its goal of becoming one of the top five automakers in worldwide sales.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
klaatu 8:12AM (3/13/2006)
Good. More jobs for Americans. Jobs that Kia was under no legal or any other obligation to place in the United States; they could have "done a GM/Ford/DCX" and just built a factory in Mexico, or Canada.
Kudos to Kia and their part-owner, Hyundai, which built a plant in the United States and started production last year.
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Wally 8:55AM (3/13/2006)
The reason GM/F/DCX build in Mexico is they can not build any plant in US without UAW. HIGHER COSTS!!!
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Rastus 12:03PM (3/13/2006)
American can be proud of this defining moment in history...where domestics can't give a product away while everyone from every corner of the earth is setting up shop in rural America.
Let Freedom Ring. Y'all better learn to enjoy kimchi!!
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Greg 1:08PM (3/13/2006)
Kia's worldwide growth has been impressive and with the new line of offering from the company over the next two years building this plant is definately the right move to make. I wonder which models this plant will be building, next generation Kia Optima/Sorento/Sedona?
Great quality cars.
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source1 3:05PM (3/13/2006)
hey, its been a consumer centered culture for decades now and if GM and Ford can't lure me with their offerings, I'll have to buy something else. Hyundai/Kia plan on selling a million annually here by 2010 and they are taking their vision and puttng bucks behind it with plants totaling nearly $3 billion. The spin off from this is huge. Business week reports that Montgomery, AL where Hyundai builds Sonatas and soon Santa Fe's is booming. This new plant will mean that within 100 miles of Montgomery, AL and West Point, GA nearly 8-10,000 jobs will be created or maintained because of these plants. Do you realize dht economic impact these companies are making upon these areas? I don't any reason to complain unless you would rather Mexico or Canada get these jobs. I applaud Hyundai/Kia for bringing these plants here and give them a standing ovation for delivering a product that is world-class and is built right here.
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iQuack 4:29PM (3/13/2006)
"Let Freedom Ring. Y'all better learn to enjoy kimchi!!" by Rastus.....
-----------------------------------
Yep, you should try kimchi--tastes great.
Most Americans know how to eat sushi by now--it's delicious!
All these new foreign-owned auto factories are good for America--especially if they help kill the UAW which is the real enemy here.
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Brian W 4:51PM (3/13/2006)
I want to see Kia build cars here as cheaply as they do in Korea. The only way Kia can sell that many cars in the future, is to move Hyundia up scale and whether people will buy them at higher prices is still to be seen.
It's not job creating if your just moving jobs around the country.
If they want to sell that many cars, then Toyota and Honda are going to have to lose alot of sales to Kia and I don't see that happening.
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Cameron 9:00PM (4/12/2006)
I like the fact that they are bringing jobs to America. It levels the playing field some. If Kia can make a car for under 10K in Korea, I would absolutly love to see them do it here, becaause as we are seeing, domestic manufacturers cannot compete when you are selling a car with a great warranty for under 10K. In reality, the only way you can build a car that cheap is you have to be absolutly screwing over someone, usually the workers.
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Gluk 7:05PM (7/04/2006)
yeah...
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