Kia Motors Slovakia Launches Production at New Engine Plant

Kia Motors Slovakia has started production at its new engine plant in Teplicka nad Vahom (Zilina Region) on Thursday, September 29, with Prime Minister Iveta Radicova in attendance at the official ceremony, the TASR newswire reported. The investment, worth over €100 million, will boost production capacity from 300,000 to 450,000 engines per year, with 270 jobs being created. 160 new employees have already started working at the new plant, which produces petrol engines (1.4 and 1.6 liter), mainly for Hyundai’s Nosovice factory.

"This is a significant year for us. We produced what was our millionth engine back in May," said Myung-Chul Chung, the president and chief executive of Kia Motors Slovakia.

The new plant will mainly produce engines with direct injection and variable valve timing. The flexible assembly line is designed to produce up to four different engine types simultaneously. The degree of automation is more than 35%, and the production of an engine takes about three hours.