Kia Motors India is all set to begin trial production of its first model, the SP2 SUV (showcased as the SP Concept at the 2018 Auto Expo) at its brand new Ananthapur plant located in Andhra Pradesh. The event will see presence of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Chandrababu Naidu, and the Ambassador of The Republic of Korea to India, H.E. Shin Bongkil, along with other Kia leadership.

Kia plans to improve upon its production efficiency over the course of the trial production run and hopes to commence mass production by mid-2019. Its new plant has a capacity of 3,00,000 units per annum. They claim that during the first phase of production, 90 percent of the vehicles produced will be for the domestic market and only 10 percent will be for export. Kia Motors India will employ 3,000 people at its Anantapur plant and will gradually ramp-up production starting with 1,00,000 units in the first year in a single shift and growing to 2,00,000 and 3,00,000 units in the second and third year, over two and three shifts, respectively.  

After the introduction of the SP2 SUV, Kia aims to quickly introduce other models as well in order to strengthen its presence in the Indian market. Kia has also said that it is studying the Indian market and will select products from the expansive Kia portfolio so as to launch models most relevant to the Indian market. It aims to introduce the second model by Auto Expo 2020.

NISHMANYA BAHADUR

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