Kia Motors Slovakia produces five different cars while the SUV models' production represents more than half of the total number of produced vehicles during the first eleven months in 2010. During this period the factory produced more than 207,400 cars which is more than a 50% year-on-year increase.
In December 2010, Kia Motors Slovakia launched the volume production of a new three-door version of Kia pro_cee'd. The company also produces the Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage SUV models whose production started during the year of 2010. The other half is the production of three different versions of Kia cee'd. Most vehicles were exported to Russia, Germany and Great Britain and only 1% of produced cars remains for the Slovak market. The company has been also producing the green cars from EcoDynamics range which are environmentally friendly.
The engine production
The new engine introduced in 2010 is turbo-diesel with a capacity of 1.7 liters produced since October 1. From January until November Kia produced 291,035 engines and achieved a 31% year-on-year growth compared to the same period last year. The most popular one among customers is a 1.4-liter gasoline engine. During the first eleven months the gasoline engines represents 59% and diesel engine 41% of the total production. The company also continues to expand the production capacity from 300,000 produced engines to 450,000 units produced per year. The installation of production technologies in the shop will last until the end of February 2011. The launch of the engine volume production is scheduled for the second half of next year. Recruitment will continue early next year, when it takes another 100 new workers.
The awards for the produced vehicles
The year of 2010 has been very successful for the plant in terms of awards for individual produced vehicles. In December, Kia Sportage gained the biggest attraction among the journalists with the total score of 107 points and became the Car of the Year 2011 and became also the Car of the Year in Scotland. It was also awarded an internationally recognized environmental certificate ISO 14040 following its rigorous assessment of all environmental aspects, from production to day-to-day running through to recycling. It proves that the car complies with the strict environmental standards. Kia Sportage was also awarded 5-Star safety rating by Euro NCAP. The popular sport-utility model receives prestigious design prize iF Design Award in the category "Transportation Design". In April, popular Kia cee'd became the Fleet Car of the Year 2010 in Slovakia.
