Kia says that it will be able to build up to 60,000 additional Optima sedans annually at its West Point, Georgia, assembly plant thanks to an expansion project that is now complete.
The production increase should help Kia keep up with unprecedented demand for its redesigned-for-2011 midsize sedan, which is Kia’s best-selling model so far this year. Optima sales picked up strongly during the second half of 2011, which was the first full year of production for the new model.
Kia’s sales vice president, Tom Loveless, told Automotive News that the Optima and the Sorrento, which is also built in Georgia, could account for as much as half of the brand’s sales in this market in 2012. Last year, the Sorrento and Optima combined for about 44 percent of Kia’s sales in the U.S., or about 215,000 cars. Optima played second fiddle to the Sorrento for most of 2011, but the sedan overtook its crossover cousin in terms of monthly sales December, a momentum shift that has continued into the 2012 calendar year.
The Korean automaker will continue to export its Optima Hybrid from Korea and it says it isn’t ruling out additional exports of non-hybrid Optimas if demand stays strong enough to keep dealers strapped for inventory.
An upmarket version of the Optima debuted earlier this week at the Chicago auto show.
