SEOUL: Kia celebrated on Friday the opening of Kia Gwangmyeong EVO Plant, Hyundai Motor Group's first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility.
Located at Kia Autoland Gwangmyeong, the new South Korean facility has an annual production capacity of 150,000 units and started production of the EV3 in the first half of this year, to be followed by the EV4 in the first half of 2025.
To mark the completion of the project, Kia hosted around 150 guests during a ceremony at the new plant.
In order to respond flexibly to changes in global demand for EVs, Kia has been steadily preparing for EV production at its global facilities.
The Gwangmyeong plant spans an area of 60,000 square metres and was built with an investment of 402 billion won (RM1.3bil).
Kia has spent a year transforming Gwangmyeong Plant 2, which was completed in 1987 to produce small internal combustion engine vehicles such as the Kia Pride, Avella and Stonic.
The Kia plant is also meaningful in that it is the Hyundai Group's first dedicated EV plant and a facility that has been completely rebuilt on an existing plant site to become a hub for next-generation vehicle production.
