Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) has begun expansion in stages in stamping, welding, paint and general assembly to raise annual capacity to 360,000 vehicles from 2012.
This is 60,000 units more than the originally announced design capacity for the factory for which ground was broken in 2006.
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Kia said recently the plant would start building the Optima sedan from next September. The plant has built the Sorento crossover since November 2009 and last October added parent Hyundai Motor’s Santa Fe which shares the platform. Hyundai has its own plant in Alabama and the Santa Fe was shifted from there to make more room for Sonata sedan output.
Kia is recruiting 1,000 workers for a third shift which begins later this month, the plant’s new jobs tally is now 3,000.
Byung Mo Ahn, the top executive in the US, said: “Kia is experiencing unprecedented growth in the US.”
The expansion adds US$100m to the $1bn already spent on the West Point factory.
It includes a second 5,400 ton transfer press for the stamping shop; additional welding robots, larger paint shop, extended assembly line, larger railway load area and 500 additional worker parking spaces.
