Kia to kick off trial production at Anantapur plant today

Vijayawada: The newest entrant in the country’s automobile space, South Korean auto giant Kia Motors, is all set to commence trial production at its newly set up manufacturing facility that has come up over a 536-acre campus in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Kia Motors India managing director Kookhyun Shim and South Korean ambassador to India, Shin Bongkil, will be inaugurating the plant.
The company, which has invested a $ 1 billion in setting up the unit, has managed to complete the project nearly a month ahead of schedule. The construction of Kia’s plant in Anantapur commenced in 2017.
The plant currently employs around 1,300 people and has a capacity of 3 lakh unit per annum, which may be further ramped up to 4 lakh units. The plant will eventually create 4000 direct jobs and 7000 indirect jobs, said a release issued by the chief minister’s office, adding that while 90% of the production volume will cater to domestic market, the remaining 10% will be for exports.
Kia Motors, which is part of the Hyundai Motor Group, is the world’s eighth largest automaker with sales of 2.8 million cars clocked last year.
Kia Motors will also be collaborating with the AP government to develop an ecosystem for electric vehicles. AP is one of the first states in the country to come up with a dedicated policy for promoting manufacturing and adoption of electric vehicles.
AP has over 100 auto component manufacturers and has attracted committed investments of Rs 40,724 crore over the past four-and-a-half years in the automotive sector, the AP government release said.