Kia exceeds 1 mn vehicle production at India plant

Kia, South Korea’s second-biggest carmaker by sales, said on Friday its accumulated vehicle production in India has exceeded 1 million units, helped by increased sales of customized models. Kia began production at the 350,000-unit-a-year Indian plant in July 2019, starting with the Seltos subcompact SUV, the company said in a statement. Other models assembled in India include the five-seat Sonet SUV, the Carens multipurpose vehicle and the Carnival van, reports Yonhap news agency. The maker of K5 sedans and Sorento SUVs sold 136,108 vehicles in India in the January-June period, up 12 percent from 121,823 units a year earlier. It aims to achieve a market share of 10 percent in the Indian passenger vehicle market in coming years, up from the current 6.7 percent at the end of June, the statement said. Kia has eight plants in Korea — two in Gwangmyeong, three in Hwaseong and three in Gwangju — and seven overseas ones — three in China and one each in the United States, Slovakia, Mexico and India. Their overall annual capacity is 3.84 million units.