Back in 2009, Kia Motors Corporation opened its first North American assembly plant. Located in the heart of Georgia is the West Point manufacturing facility and recently, the plant hit a production milestone. The Korean automaker celebrated as they rolled off the factory floor their 500,000 U.S. built vehicle. Breathing through a high pressure turbocharger and bathed in a coat of Snow White Pearl paint was a 2012 Optima SX sedan which will soon be found in one of Kia North America’s 755 dealerships.
“Building 500,000 vehicles in just over two years is quite a milestone for our first U.S. manufacturing plant to accomplish,” said Byung Mo Ahn, Group President and CEO for Kia Motors America. Ever since work began three years ago, the automaker has been expanding the West Points output with more vehicles. In 2011, the Sorento SUV was joined by the Optima via a $100 million expansion. With the sedan’s production addition, Kia now has the ability to pump out 360,000 vehicles annually with a large portion of parts coming from U.S. sources. “The commitment from each one of our team members is a big reason we’ve been able to achieve 17 consecutive months of record sales. Their dedication to building world class, high quality vehicles is apparent in each vehicle we produce,” said Mo Ahn.
Source: Kia
