Kia rolls out its 1st ‘Made in India’ car at Anantapur

Anantapur: South Korean auto major Kia Motors rolled out its first ‘Made in India’ offering, Seltos, at its Anantapur plant in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. The vehicle was rolled off the assembly line by the ambassador of Republic of South Korea to India, Shin Bong-Kil and Kia Motors India managing director and CEO Kookhyun Shim in the presence of state finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and other government officials.
Kia Motors India vice-president and head of sales & marketing Manohar Bhat pointed out that the auto major opened bookings on July 16 and has since received over 23,000 bookings.The mid-sized SUV will be launched on August 22 in the country, with deliveries starting on that day.
With the rollout of its first Seltos, Kia has initiated mass production of the SUV at its facility in Anantapur, which is spread across 536 acres and has a capacity to manufacture 3 lakh vehicles per annum. This plant will also be capable of producing hybrid and electric vehicles, Bhat added.
Talking about Kia’s network, Bhat said the auto major already has 206 sales points and 265 touch points across 160 locations in the country. “We already have the highest number of dealerships for any new car entrant in India, a diverse network all over India, spread across tier 1, 2, 3 and even tier 4 cities ,” he said.
In April 2017, Kia Motors had signed a memorandum of understanding with the AP government to build a new manufacturing facility in Anantapur district. The construction of Kia Motors’ first India manufacturing facility was completed last year and trial productions commenced in January 2019. It has reportedly invested around $2 billion in the unit.
Founded in 1944, Kia Motors is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. It has over 51,000 employees worldwide with annual revenues of over $47 billion. Kia produces about 3 million vehicles a year at its 15 manufacturing and assembly operations in five countries.
The Seltos will sport a Smartstream engine that will come in three variants — 1.5 petrol, 1.5 diesel and the first in the segment 1.4 turbo petrol. The mid-SUV offers three automatic transmission variants – 7DCT, IVT, and 6 AT along with 6-speed manual transmission.
YSR helped drive Kia to AP: Jagan
Anantapur: Despite giving South Korean auto giant Kia Motors’ first car roll-out ceremony at the Anantapur plant a miss, chief minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy made sure his message was loud and clear — that it was thanks to the efforts of his late father and former CM of undivided AP, YS Rajasekhar Reddy, that the South Korean auto giant had decided to park its first India manufacturing unit in the state.
Delivering the CM’s message, state finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said that YSR had met the Kia Motors leadership in 2007 and requested them to consider AP for setting up their unit. “The seeds my father had sown has yielded results,” the state FM said while reading out Jagan’s message. He added that the state has drawn investments to the tune of $4.5 billion from major auto sector players such as Isuzu, Hero and Apollo Tyres, as a result of which it has also attracted many auto ancillary units in the region.
He said the government is working towards developing Chittoor, Anantapur, Kadapa and Nellore as major auto hubs. The minister added that the state government is also keen on encouraging green mobility by developing a conducive ecosystem for electric vehicle manufacturers. The state has also launched an EV policy.