Korea’s second largest car maker Kia Motors has finally announced its plans to enter the Indian car market. Kia will build a brand new manufacturing facility for its India operations in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh at a cost of a whopping ₹ 7050 Crore ($ 1.1 Billion).
Construction of the new factory will begin in the third quarter of 2017 with a production rollout slated for 2019. The plant will have an installed initial annual capacity of 300,000 units.
The company has said it will locally manufacture Kia cars for India, and two compact models will lead that for starters. Kia’s compact sedan will rival the likes of Honda city and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz. besides cousin Hyundai Verna. The compact SUV (which could be under 4-meters in length) is likely to be an all-new model.
Kia Motors will subsequently also produce other models, which includes its global high-volume hatchbacks – Picanto and Rio. The Rio sedan is likely to be the compact model mentioned earlier. body style vehicles in the facility depending on public response and sales.
