Kia opens second plant in China
December 10, 2007 by George Skentzos
In a time where it seems every car manufacturer is struggling to turn a profit, Kia has proven itself as one of the fastest growing automakers in the world – today opening its second plant in China.
A joint-venture with Dongfeng Yueda Kia (DYK) Motors, the $800 million state-of-the-art facility will provide a healthy boost toward Kia’s goal of selling over one million units by 2009.
At full capacity, the new plant will churn out over 300,000 units per year, bringing the production capacity in China to 430,000. Coupled with the 300,000 unit plant in Slovakia and the completion of Kia’s first North American plant in Georgia next year, the brand is well on their way to achieving their one million unit target.
“This is also a very important milestone in the evolution of the Kia brand in the increasingly competitive Chinese market as Kia Motors strives to be among the top makers in China market by the end of the decade,”
Kia is also planning to introduce a new model for production at the new plant in 2009 and is currently assessing Chinese market trends and conditions before making a final decision.
The new plant is located only 3.5 kilometres south-east of DYK’s first plant in Jiangsu Province, occupying 270,000 square metres of building space on 1.47 million square metres of land.
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This is a big investment. Why doesn’t Kia invest the money in Australia? It would certainly be helpful to improve their image here. I read an article recently, saying half of the cars running in China are German-made cars. I think it would be quite difficult for Kia to compete with them, though Kia do makes some good cars and their efforts do deserve praise.
KIA is cheap and nasty, it resembles exactly the what you pay is what you get sentence, simple but true…made in China wouldn’t make me a proud car owner..KIA sucks
Get over yourself, seriously, when will people pull their heads out of their arse’s and realise that kia dont make that bad a car. Clearly they arent as bad as you car snobs dub them because its quite obvious their popularity is increasing otherwise they wouldnt have opened a new plant.
Made in china makes it easy for a company like KIA, cheap labour, cheap cars, cheap buyer’s, cheap quality and cheap comments like your’s Martin.
granted the kia ceed did bring kia some positive press. but they are still very long way from becoming a good brand. 10-20 years the least.
china’s car market is potentially and problably is alot bigger than australia’s. besides they can build cheaper and nastier there and with the consequence of getting sued if something goes wrong.
But they go reasonably and are inexpensive, they have a market.
Pity that we are supporting China so heavily with the manufacture of just about everything..It will end in tears, just you wait.
The cars Kia produce are made to a budget – i like to term them “throw away cars” keep them for a couple of years, then get rid of them. There are many warranty claims against many kia cars, and they are no good after about 4 years, but they are still good value, and their quality has improved hugely. They wouldn’t build a plant here because the labour costs and operating costs are much higher, China also does not ahve to stand by the Kyoto protocol, as they have not signed it, so the manufacturers don’t have to worry about investing in Green production options.
Yep, Chinese cars or any car made in China is ‘nasty’, ‘cheap’, or ‘crap’. You’d better laugh at Chinese-made cars as much as you can and as soon as possible now, before smile disappears from your faces and surprise shows up. The reality is, the Chinese car industry and cars made in China are developing and evolving so fast, that almost all the multinational car companies have taken notice, and begun investing heavily in China. If you go to China, you will be amazed that there are so many luxury cars running in this country. You might say the multinationals are ‘stupid’. But I am sure they have the money and resources to do extensive research and consultancy, before making up their minds to invest in China. They have positive views on China. I am sure they have more vision, more management skills, more knowledge about car industry than any of you who posted emotional comments here.
I think people need to realise that not everyone can afford a Japanese or European built car, and as such KIA fills the void for those buyers.
They’re a good car FOR THE MONEY and for people requiring basic transport suited to their needs KIA certainly does the job with little fuss.
Sure people with more in depth car knowledge won’t be interested, myself included, but when you consider the whole scenario KIA does make sense.
Lets just point out that ‘Multi-nationals’ aren’t going to China because the Chinese build a good car, or even an improving car.
They go to China for the Cheap labour and overall lower manufacturing costs. AND because the chinese market is growing at such a rate that they would be CRAZY not to.
Cars that are being built in China by the ‘Multi-nationals’ will no boubt have higher Quality/Safety and Design Standards than that of the ‘Chinese’ Brands, however that is only because the multinationals bring the industry experience with them.
Reinforcing what PAT E was saying kia is part of the throw away car market. the maximum amount of time someone owns a vehicle for is 7 years but the majority of the time it is 4 years.
You look at how things are now in the 80s most people brought a ex demo or whatever and drove it to the ground now people upgrade all the time.
as long as consumer culture is the latest and greatest, having to pay next to nothing for it and NOW NOW NOW! things like build quality will be a thing of the past. look at mobile phones, TVs etc
i hate the things but admitably and unfortunatley this is where the market is going.
I think there is another hidden factor. The foreign car companies start investing a lot in China, not just because of its market and low manufacturing cost, The quality and design of the local Chinese car makers are also improving dramatically, which puts direct pressure on foreign car companies. As a result, foreign car companies have to invest more, bring up new technologies, expertise and new models to China to gain advantages over local Chinese carmakers in the very competitive Chinese market. China’s carmakers are lucky to have the opportunity to learn new technologies and management skills from so many foreign car companies operating in China now. Let’s just hope the Chinese carmakers can take the opportunity to develop and improve its own overall design and quality. Otherwise, they will be blamed all the time for ‘copying’.
I wouldn’t really call them throw away cars (well in my experience anyway) my dad still uses his 2001 Kia Shuma to drive to work everyday since it was bought basically and have had no problems what so ever and for a couple of years it wasnt even garaged, everything still works as it did the day he bought it. The only maintenance it gets it regular servicing.
of course there are exceptions to the rule, i am only speaking from experience with one dealer, i hope they improve and become equal to other manufacturers – it will make the roads a safer place!
Kia’s case is another example of judging cars by ‘perception’, rather than facts. Past does not represent now and future. Kia, just like any other car makers which don’t have long history and are still in their developing phase, has been continuously making efforts to improve their products and trying to match the highest standards. Just take a look at the latest Kia Sportage diesel. Their efforts to make better, more affordable cars deserve public supports and encouragements. Why do we still criticize them so harshly? Why can we just think positively and look forward?
Ha think!! Its junk!!And now they want to make it where more junk is made! Korea would have been better quality control now they will have to start again!
Kia has always reminded me of that cheap furniture you buy….you know you justify not looking after it cause its crap and cheap and will end up on the verge in a few years!
Kia is steadily making and offering better, improved cars. They are building new plants around the world to cope with increasing global demands. They have the determination and resource to became a top carmaker. Their management is becoming more competent by dealing with big car companies. Are these the signs that Kia is about to fail? I strongly doubt about it. Also, if Kia fails, there would be less competition for big car companies. What is good about that? Monopoly only makes people arrogant and less likely to listen to evolving customer demands.