Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia Motors said it was ready to begin investing an additional EUR70m (US$79m) expanding its engine factory in Slovakia.
The automaker aims to complete expanding the manufacturing plant in Zilina by the end of August 2020.
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The company plans subsequently to introduce the next generation 1.6 GDi and T-GDi at the facility and the petrol engines will be fitted to the locally-made Ceed C-segment vehicle range.
The vehicle assembly plant in Zilina is the only production location worldwide for the Ceed passenger car and XCeed crossover model – the factory also makes the Sportage SUV.
It produced 99,514 vehicles in the first five months of 2020, for sale mainly in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
A Kia official confirmed the automaker had originally planned to start expanding the plant in March but construction was postponed due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
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By GlobalDataHe added “the completion date for the production line expansion could still change, depending on the virus situation”.
