Kia Corporation has opened its second vehicle assembly plant in Kazakhstan, as the South Korean automaker steps up its expansion in the Central Asian region. The company is reported to have sold 25,500 vehicles in the local market last year, with deliveries growing by 62% annually since 2020, according to industry data.
Construction of the complete knock-down (CKD) assembly plant, in Kazakhstan’s north-eastern city of Kostanay, began at the end of 2023 with a total investment of US$ 310 million. The opening ceremony was attended by Kia’s President, Song Ho-sung, and Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister, Roman Sklyar.
The facility, which has an initial production capacity of 70,000 vehicles per year, began assembling the Kia Sorento SUV earlier this month, with the Sportage SUV scheduled to be added next year. Kia already has a smaller, 10,000 unit/year assembly facility in the country, producing the Sportage.
Other models will be assembled at its plants later on, in line with regional demand, with Kia also targeting neighbouring markets including Uzbekistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Song Ho-sung said in a statement: “The Kazakhstan CKD plant is part of Kia’s global vision to create sustainable value through customer-focused innovation and electrification.”
