Kia’s Slovak plant reports double profit for 2012

Kia Motors’ plant in Zilina region, Slovakia, reported a net profit for last year of €155.46 million, up from €68.63 million in 2011, according to Slovakia’s national press agency TASR.

The plant’s sales also increased 17.7 percent to €3.92 billion in 2012. The plant located in the north of the country announced earlier that car output was 15 percent higher, at a record 292,050 units last year.

The South Korean carmaker also announced that engine production, including engines supplied to parent company Hyundai at its Nosovice plant in the east of the Czech Republic, rose 29 percent to over 464,467 units. The company said it spent €120 million last year to boost capacity, add new technology and complete the construction of a logistics center. The sum was two-fifths smaller year on year.

The Kia Sportage model represented half of the vehicles manufactured (over 136,514), the rest were Kia cee’d (120,600) and Kia Venga (almost 35,000) models. For 2013, Kia forecasts a production of 290,000 cars at its Slovak plant.

“An absolute majority of our production was exported, the lion’s share (22 percent) headed for the Russian Federation. We expect that we’ll produce around the same number of cars this calendar year, which is also indicated by the stable development of commissions,” said Kia Motors Slovakia spokesman Jozef Bačé.

The plant currently employs 3,900 people.