Kia Motors’ U.S. Assembly Plant In West Point, Georgia Produces 300,000th Vehicle

WEST POINT — Earlier today, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) celebrated production of the 300,000th vehicle at the West Point, Ga. automobile manufacturing facility.

Mass production of the Kia Sorento CUV began at KMMG on Nov. 16, 2009, and the crossover is the Kia brand’s best-selling vehicle in the U.S. Since opening, KMMG has added two shifts and completed the hiring process for nearly 1,000 new team members, bringing the total number of jobs created at the plant to more than 3,000. The critically-acclaimed Optima midsize sedan will be added to the production line later this year, and the plant has begun a series of expansion projects to increase its annual capacity to 360,000 vehicles in 2012.

“The completion of our 300,000th vehicle in less than two years is another historic milestone for KMMG, and the success of the plant is attributable to each team members’ commitment to outstanding quality,” said Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of Kia Motors America (KMA) and KMMG. “Now, with three full shifts of production and the upcoming addition of the Optima, our production goals will continue to be very aggressive.”

Vehicle number 300,000 was a silver Sorento SX which will now be allocated to one of KMA’s more than 730 dealers nationwide.

Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia, Inc. (KMMG) is the first manufacturing site in North America for Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, Korea. KMMG is located on 2,200 acres in West Point, Georgia, and is scheduled to begin production in the last quarter of 2009. At full capacity, the plant will have the ability to produce 300,000 vehicles annually and employ approximately 2,500 team members.