The automaker has invested €1.7 billion since its arrival in Slovakia, Kia Motors Slovakia spokesman Jozef Bačé told the TASR newswire on December 7. “Thanks to the Kia plant, more than 20,000 jobs have been created directly in the plant and at the company’s 40 most important suppliers,” the spokesman said. “The Cee’d, Sportage and Venga models are exported to 95 countries worldwide,” he added, specifying that almost 40,000 cars manufactured in the plant have already been driving on Slovak roads.
“Over the past decade, our company has become one of the largest employers, manufacturers, exporters and taxpayers in Slovakia,” Kia Motors Slovakia President and CEO Eek-Hee Lee said. ”I especially thank our employees for their efforts and dedication. Thanks to them we’ve achieved exceptional production and financial results which have made our plant among the best plants of the Hyundai Motor Group.”
Since 2016, the KIA plant in Teplička nad Váhom near Žilina has exported most of its vehicles to Russia (18 percent), the UK (12 percent), Germany (9 percent), Spain (6 percent) and Italy (6 percent), Bačé told TASR.
In the long term, the most desirable models are the Kia Cee’d and the Kia Sportage, both of which represent 45 percent of all the vehicles they have produced.
The carmaker currently employs around 3,800 people. “We care about developing the competencies and skills of our employees and the company has organised 8,900 training sessions for them since 2006,” the company spokesman said. “Among the most popular long-term employee benefits is the direct bus transport provided by the employer.”
Kia Motors Slovakia was built between 2004 and 2006.