Kia manufactures 3 millionth car in Slovakia

Since its official launch of production in December 2006, Kia Motors Slovakia has manufactured three million vehicles at its plant in Teplička nad Váhom, Kia Motors Slovakia spokesman Jozef Bace told TASR on Tuesday. The three millionth car was a five-door Kia cee'd GT for a customer located in Iceland. It is equipped with a 1.0-litre T-GDi petrol engine. Since its launch, the factory has also produced 4.4 million engines. "Kia Motors Slovakia is the birthplace of three models - the cee'd, the best-selling Sportage and the compact MPV Venga model. Since May 2013, the plant, as the first within a group, has been manufacturing the powerful cee'd GT models for Europe. Overall, the models made in Slovakia make up almost half of Kia's sales in Europe," said Bace. According to the spokesman, a new study by London Economics, which is a leading independent European consulting company, confirms Kia's significant contribution to the European economy. "Including customs duties, income and sales taxes, Kia contributed €1.2 billion to the budgets of European countries in 2016. ... Owing to the Kia Motors Slovakia plant, approximately 15,000 jobs have been created in Slovakia, either directly with the automaker or with its suppliers," concluded Bace.