Kia Motors Slovakia Produced More than 229,500 Cars in 2010
ZLINIA, Slovakia - Kia Motors' Slovakian plant produced more than 229,500 cars in 2010 which represents a 52% year-on-year increase. The company also recorded a growth in engine production. Last year more than 320,900 engines were assembled on production lines which represented a 31% year-on-year increase. Kia Motors Slovakia reached a net profit of EUR 42.9 million in 2010. In the Slovak Republic, the company invested more than EUR 164 million into the installation of new technologies for new models’ production and extension of the engine production capacity.
"When I look at the year of 2010, I can evaluate it as a very positive one for us. During the first six months we successfully launched the production of two new SUV models and at the end we started to produce a new three-door version of Kia pro_cee'd. We managed to exceed our production plan and we produced more than 229,500 cars," said Myung-Chul Chung, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.
The key factor for the growth of the car production was a volume production launch of two new models of sport-utility (SUV) such as Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage, which the company started to produce within 2010. In December, Kia Motors Slovakia also started to produce a new version of the three-door Kia pro_cee'd. The plant currently produces five different vehicles and SUV models represented 58% of total production in 2010. More than 28% of cars produced in 2010 belonged to the product line called EcoDynamics which is assigned for the customers favoring "green technology."
The largest export markets in 2010 were Russia (26%), Germany (10%) and the UK (8%) followed by Spain (6%) and Italy (5%). About 1% of produced cars remain for the Slovak market. The revenues from exports, which is EUR 2.871 billion, represented 99% of total revenues. Thanks to that Kia Motors Slovakia became the third largest exporter in Slovakia in 2010.
The engine production
The new engine introduced in 2010 is turbo-diesel with a capacity of 1.7 liters produced since October 1. In April 2010, Kia Motors Slovakia started to expand the production capacity from 300,000 produced engines to 450,000 units produced per year. The finalization of the construction is planned for the first quarter of 2011. Currently, the installation of production technologies is in progress. The launch of the engine pre-trail production is scheduled for the first half of 2011 and the engines will be exported mainly to Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech in Nosovice, the Czech Republic. The launch of the engine volume production is planned for the second half of this year.