Kia completed a CKD plant in Kazakhstan that will mass-produce key models such as the Sorento and Sportage. It has an annual production capacity of 70,000 vehicles.
Kia held a completion ceremony for the CKD (Complete Knock Down·partially assembled products) joint plant in Kostanay, Kazakhstan, on the 21st local time.
The completion ceremony was attended by Song Ho-sung, president of Kia, Roman Sklyar, Kazakhstan's first deputy prime minister, and many senior local government officials and partner company representatives, and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan attended the event via video.
Song Ho-sung said, "The Kazakhstan CKD plant is part of Kia's global vision to create sustainable value through customer-focused innovation and electrification."
A total of $310 million was invested in the construction of the Kia Kazakhstan CKD plant, and the total site area reaches 630,000 square meters.
Kia began mass production of the Sorento to coincide with the plant completion ceremony, and plans to produce the Sportage in 2026. It also plans to expand the models produced in the future depending on local market demand and the progress of localization efforts, and through this plans to strengthen its presence in the Central Asia region.
[OSEN]