In addition to showing off new Rio and Rio 5 subcompacts alongside the refreshed Kia Soul, Kia executives also took the opportunity to announce plans to expand the production agenda for the automaker’s manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia.
Kia currently employs approximately 2,300 workers at its Georgie plant, but the automaker plans to bring about 700 more jobs to the plant and expand production duties to include the 2012 Kia Optima beginning in Q3, 2011.
The West Point, Georgia plant is currently responsible for producing the Sorento CUV, of which it produced 123,500 examples in 2010, making it the brand’s best-selling vehicle. The plant has a total annual capacity of roughly 300,000 vehicles, making the move to increase the number of vehicles in production at the facility a logical decision that will help the facility reach its greatest and best use potential.
In addition to the 700 jobs expected to be created directly at the manufacturing facility, Kia estimates that as many as 7,500 additional jobs will be created locally for local suppliers and on-site.
