As Korea’s oldest car manufacturer Kia has a rich history.
Founded in 1944, Kia is also the second largest car maker in
Korea. The company then known as Kyungsung Precision
Industry produced the first domestic bicycle in Korea and
went on to produce Korea’s first motorcycle, and first
truck. In another first, Kia was the first company in Korea
to produce a domestic diesel engine and petrol driven car
engines.
Kia was recognised in 1979 as European car makers
Fiat and
Peugeot chose Kia to build their Fiat 132 and the Peugeot
604. By the 1980’s it was
Ford approaching Kia to
manufacture their Festiva, firstly in the US, then the rest
of the world. Kia produced two generations of the Ford base
model for Australia in the late 80’s.
Kia now produces a highly diverse range of new cars that are
selling all over the world in 190 countries. Kia’s Hwasung
plant produces 600,000 Kia’s annually, whilst the Sohari
operation produces 340,000 units. Kia’s commercial vehicles
are produced at their Kwangju plant. This plant manufactures
210,000 Kia commercial vehicles per year.
The Kia main research and development operation is located
in Namyang, Korea. There are other Kia research and
development centres located in the United States, Germany
and Japan. Kia opened a vehicle testing facility in the US
in 2003 in California's Mojave Desert and now boast a strong
network of 156 global distributors. Kia also have 12
overseas subsidiaries.
Kia Australia
Kia Australia has been running for well over a decade now and there are
now over 120,000 Kia cars on Australia’s roads. There are as
many as 125 Kia Dealers spread across Australia.
The Kia
story continues successfully in Australia as Kia sponsor
high profile sporting events such as the Australian Open
tennis championships. As a result of Kia’s vibrant
marketing, the Kia brand name continues to gain recognition
and momentum here in Australia.
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