In 2020, Kia Motors Slovakia produced a total of 268,200 vehicles for its customers at its plant in Teplička nad Váhom. The number of vehicles produced was 22% lower than in the record year 2019. The decline in production in 2020 was caused by the coronavirus crisis and its negative impact on the automotive industry.
More than half (54%) of all vehicles produced in 2020 were the long‑standing customer favorite, the Sportage model. The remaining production consisted of the Ceed model range. The most-produced version was the classic five‑door body style, closely followed by the XCeed crossover. Electrified models Ceed Sportswagon PHEV and XCeed PHEV accounted for almost 8%, while mild‑hybrid versions of the Sportage and Ceed represented 11.9% of total production.
“We have had a challenging year in 2020. Despite all the difficulties and obstacles, we managed to produce 268,200 vehicles and almost 275,000 engines. I am very pleased that new models such as the XCeed crossover and electrified plug‑in hybrid models have found their supporters. Customers appreciate the high quality and reliability of vehicles produced at Kia Motors Slovakia. I believe that the overall situation will improve in 2021 and that we will continue to invest with the aim of strengthening our competitiveness,” said Seok Bong Kim, President of Kia Motors Slovakia.
Due to the pandemic, 2020 was marked by local and global crisis situations that negatively affected production at the plant. Company management, together with the newly elected committee of the trade union organization ZO OZ KOVO Kia, agreed to cooperate in overcoming the challenging situations in 2021 and in improving competitiveness on the European market. The joint declaration was signed by Martin Čech, Chairman of the ZO OZ KOVO Kia trade union, and Dušan Dvořák, Head of the Employee Relations Department. Both parties are convinced that mutual trust and active cooperation, together with flexible production operations, are the foundation for successfully managing rapid changes in the automotive industry. Calm dialogue and cooperation will focus primarily on employment stability, workplace safety, maintaining competitiveness, and the successful transformation of the plant in meeting environmental standards and implementing Industry 4.0.
Investments and modifications to production lines were also carried out in 2020 across several production halls. During the regular winter shutdown, automation in the paint shop was increased through the installation of robots, and modifications were made to the welding shop lines. The main objective of these investments was to enhance competitiveness, modernize the production process, reduce costs, and increase production efficiency. Over a four‑month period, a long‑planned modification of lines was implemented at Engine Shop 2. This investment, amounting to more than EUR 70 million, has enabled Kia Motors Slovakia to produce new‑generation gasoline engines since autumn 2020.
In 2020, Kia Motors Slovakia produced a total of nearly 275,000 engines. Compared to 2019, production of powertrains decreased by almost 37%. The share of gasoline engines—whose popularity among Kia customers continues to grow—was 57%. Nearly half of the produced power units were used in vehicles manufactured in Teplička nad Váhom. Approximately 42% of the engines were delivered to the sister plant Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech. The remaining engines were exported to sister plants in Turkey and India.
Kia Motors Slovakia did not record significant changes in the countries to which it exports the most vehicles. In 2020, vehicles were most frequently shipped to the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, Russia, Spain, and Poland. Turkey also entered the top ten export destinations, with exports increasing to two and a half times the volume of the previous year. Fewer than 5,000 produced Sportage and Ceed vehicles remained on the domestic Slovak market.
Despite the global pandemic, European sales of the Ceed model family increased by 4.1% in 2020 to 114,759 units. Ceed became Kia’s best‑selling model in Europe last year. The increased interest in the Ceed family follows the successful introduction of new plug‑in hybrid variants of the Ceed Sportswagon and XCeed. The popular Sportage SUV, the second model produced at Kia Motors Slovakia, maintained its position as Kia’s third best‑selling model in Europe.
