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Kia's India plant manufactures 1m vehicles in 4 years
By Lee Jung-jooPublished : July 14, 2023 - 16:00
Kia’s manufacturing plant located in Anantapur, India, celebrated the manufacturing of its 1 millionth vehicle after four years on Thursday.
Since setting up production in India in 2019, Kia has produced some 532,450 units of the compact SUV Seltos, accounting for the majority of those made there. Other vehicles produced there include 332,450 of compact SUV Sonet, 120,516 Carens and 14,574 of the Carnival minivan.
At a ceremony celebrating the plant’s manufacturing milestone, executives and Indian government officials including Kia India's managing director and CEO Park Tae-jin, Minister for Industries, Infrastructure, Investment and Commerce Gudivada Amarnath and Minister of Finance and Planning Buggana Rajendranath Reddy were in attendance.
The 1 millionth vehicle produced was the new Seltos model, which is the first vehicle developed by Kia since the company’s rebranding effort to emphasize sustainable mobility solutions.
Along with its celebration of rolling out more than 1 million vehicles from its Indian manufacturing plant, Kia discussed its new marketing strategy to specifically target the Indian market, also known as “Kia 2.0.”
Under the Kia 2.0 strategy, the company plans to expand the number of vehicles it manufactures and strengthen its sales network by doubling the number of its dealerships in India. As of the end of June, there were 300 dealerships located in 215 cities across India.
"The production of 1 million units in India, our third-largest automotive market, is very significant," said a Kia official in an official statement. "We will continue to strive to become a beloved brand in the Indian market through various marketing and localized products."
Kia signed an investment contract with the Andhra Pradesh government in April 2017 to establish its manufacturing plant in India and began construction in October of that year. It began its production in July 2019 with the production of Kia’s Seltos model.
In July last year, Kia also reached the milestone of manufacturing 500,000 units in just 30 months, the shortest time for any automaker in India.
