Year 2008 was a very successful one for Kia Motors Slovakia in terms of growth. Business results for that period prove it along with the amount of produced cars, which for the first time surpassed 200,000 units. The revenues for last year presented EUR 2.228 billion, a jump of almost 24% year-on-year, of which the revenues from export came to 97.8%, respectively.
“I am very glad the production volume in 2008 grew by 38% year-on-year. Important is the fact that excellent production results were confirmed by top quality of cars produced at our company as well as high efficiency of production, of which the average for 2008 stands at 98%. It is mostly Kia Motors Slovakia employees, who every day work with state-of-the-art automotive technology, that are behind the success of the company,” said In-Kyu Bae, President of Kia Motors Slovakia.
In 2008, the production at Kia Motors Slovakia was divided between the two high quality models - Kia cee’d and Kia Sportage. The former made up 81% of the total number of produced cars. In 2007, most of the production was distributed to Western European countries, while in 2008 a significant growth of cars dispatched to Eastern part of the continent was recorded. More than one third of the total production volume headed to Eastern part of Europe with 18% going only to Russia. The second major market was Germany (7.8%), followed by United Kingdom (6.8%) and Poland (5.3%), with Ukraine closing in the top 5 (5.1%). Customers mostly requested the 5-door hatchback cee’d and family station wagon cee’d_sw, where each constituted approximately one third of the total production at the factory.
Kia Motors Slovakia is the only car engine producer in Slovakia. The 2008 production of more than 176,000 engines marked a year-on-year increase of 54%. The gasoline engines prevailed with 61% of total engine production at the factory; however, 1.6-liter diesel engine was still the most popular among customers and was assembled to 27% of all cars.
Kia in Teplicka nad Vahom is one of the largest employers in the Zilina region. It is aware of its impact on the region which is why it is one of its main goals to fulfill the principles of corporate social responsibility. The company acts transparently and responsibly towards all of its partners, suppliers as well as environment in which it operates. The company pays special attention to its employees to whom it offers a pleasant and safe working environment and rich social program. As part of its CSR efforts, Kia Foundation Fund was established last year. The fund has already been carrying out two projects in the Zilina region this year. The fund set protection of environment, support of marginalized groups and development of mobility in the region as its main goals.
Kia Motors Slovakia is the first European manufacturing facility of Kia Motors where over 2,600 qualified employees now work in two shifts. Currently, the factory produces three body versions of
European model Kia cee’d – 5-door hatchback, station wagon cee’d_sw and sporty 3-door pro_cee’d as well as the SUV model Kia Sportage.
