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South Korean car maker Kia said it has recovered from the industry's 2009 slump, producing an estimated 228 000 vehicles at its Slovakian plant in 2010.
Production in 2009 fell to 150 000 from 201 000 in 2008 as the global downturn curbed demand in key markets Germany, Britain and Russia, company spokesman Dusan Dvorak told AFP. Now Kia, which makes its cee’d and Sportage and sister company Hyundai's ix35 at the Slovakian plant, said it expected production to rise to 240 000 in 2011 with increasing SUV demand.
The plant also produces engines for an Hyundai operation in the neighbouring Czech Republic, about 60km away.
NEW ENGINE PLANT
Engine production between January and November 2010 rose by 33% from the same period in2009 year to 291 035.
Kia said it was building a new engine facility, expected to come on-stream in 2011 and to reach its full annual production capacity of 150 000 the following year.
The company will hire 100 employees, in addition to the 2900 people already at the plant.
Slovakia's auto industry, the driver for the former communist economy, has been recovering from the global downturn since the beginning of 2010. In October, combined car output at plants run by Kia, France's Peugeot-Citroen and Germany's VW grew by almost a third from the same month in 2009, according to Slovakia's statistics office.
Production in 2009 fell to 150 000 from 201 000 in 2008 as the global downturn curbed demand in key markets Germany, Britain and Russia, company spokesman Dusan Dvorak told AFP. Now Kia, which makes its cee’d and Sportage and sister company Hyundai's ix35 at the Slovakian plant, said it expected production to rise to 240 000 in 2011 with increasing SUV demand.
The plant also produces engines for an Hyundai operation in the neighbouring Czech Republic, about 60km away.
NEW ENGINE PLANT
Engine production between January and November 2010 rose by 33% from the same period in2009 year to 291 035.
Kia said it was building a new engine facility, expected to come on-stream in 2011 and to reach its full annual production capacity of 150 000 the following year.
The company will hire 100 employees, in addition to the 2900 people already at the plant.
Slovakia's auto industry, the driver for the former communist economy, has been recovering from the global downturn since the beginning of 2010. In October, combined car output at plants run by Kia, France's Peugeot-Citroen and Germany's VW grew by almost a third from the same month in 2009, according to Slovakia's statistics office.