Kia Motors Slovakia posts record car and engine production in 2012

Kia's Zilina plant in Slovakia produced a record-breaking 292,000 cars and 464,000 engines in 2012 - its highest ever output and respective increases of 15 per cent and 29 per cent over 2011.

Since a three-shift operation was introduced by the 3,900 factory employees in January
2012, Zilina has produced consistently high volumes of models such as the new cee'd family, Venga and Sportage. In 2013, the Zilina plant is expecting to produce 290,000 vehicles and 490,000 engines with production of the all-new pro_cee'd model beginning in the first quarter.


"We have just completed a year of record production for Kia Motors Slovakia, demonstrating the fast-growing demand for Kia's range of models across Europe. It also represents the result of the hard work and enthusiasm of all our employees, who are currently undergoing training in advance of the launch of the new pro_cee'd," said Eek-Hee Lee, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.

In 2012, the Zilina plant produced around 136,500 units of the Sportage (47 per cent of total production), more than 120,600 cee'd models (41 per cent), and over 34,900 Venga (12 per cent). The Sportage posted a 34 per cent year-on-year increase over the previous year's production.

Kia Motors Slovakia exports its output across Europe, with more than 22 per cent of 2012 production delivered to Russia, 12 per cent to the United Kingdom, 11 per cent to Germany, six per cent to France and five per cent to Italy.

Manufacturing more than 464,000 engines in 2012, the plant posted a 29 per cent year-on-year increase, with diesel engines representing 45 per cent of overall production, and petrol units 55 per cent. The most popular engine assembled at Zilina is the 1.6-litre diesel, with 99,000 examples accounting for 21 per cent of total 2012 engine production.

As well as equipping the facility and training staff ahead of production of new-generation pro_cee'd, the Zilina plant will also manufacture Kia's first performance-oriented vehicle - the pro_cee'd GT - from later in the year.

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