Kia’s Slovakia plant nears 5 mn vehicle production milestone

Kia Corp.’s Žilina plant in Slovakia

Kia Corp.’s Žilina plant in Slovakia, established as the South Korean carmaker’s first overseas production base, is on the verge of surpassing 5 million vehicles in cumulative production.

Since starting operations in December 2006, the plant has manufactured nearly 4.94 million vehicles as of the first quarter of this year.

Given the plant’s current production rate of over 30,000 vehicles per month, it is projected to reach the 5 million mark early this month.

Reaching this milestone would mean the Žilina plant has produced 5 million vehicles in 17 years and 6 months since its production lines began operating. This comes only three years and one month after the plant celebrated its 4 millionth vehicle in May 2021.

The Kia Sportage stands out as the best-selling model produced at the Žilina plant. Over the past 17 years, around 2.54 million Sportage units, or 51.2 percent of the total production, have been sold. The Ceed follows with 1.86 million units, and the Ceed CUV with 237,000 units.

The Sportage has gained significant recognition in Europe, especially after the launch of its fifth-generation model in 2021.

According to UK market research firm JATO, the Sportage sold approximately 145,000 units in Europe last year, making it the second best-selling compact SUV in the region, just behind Hyundai’s Tucson.

Despite being priced higher than many of its competitors, the Sportage has successfully captured European consumers’ interest with its high-quality features.

In Germany, for instance, the Sportage starts at 38,890 euros ($42,204), which is 1,740 euros higher compared to the Volkswagen Tiguan.

Kia plans to introduce new machinery and equipment and expand production lines at its Slovak plant.

The Slovak Ministry of Economy expects the planned expansion will boost the production capacity of the plant by up to 36 percent. This would increase the plant’s annual production capability to around 450,000 vehicles.