Kia Motors is planning plans to launch five new models in India in the next three years. The Korean auto giant aims to be among the top five automakers of the country. The company will commence its Indian operations in the second half of 2019 with an all-new mid-size SUV based on the SP concept. While the official name of the SUV is yet to be announced by the carmaker, it is likely to christened Kia Tusker.
Production of the new Kia mid-size SUV will take place at the carmaker’s new Andhra Pradesh facility. The plant was being setup with an investment of USD 1.1 billion in 600 acres and will have annual production capacity of 3 lakh units with 3,000 direct manual resources. The plant capacity will be expanded to 1 lakh in coming years. The locally produced Kia cars will be sold in the domestic market. Kia Motors produces 3 million cars across the world and its Indian facility is the 15th production plant globally. Read More – Upcoming Kia Cars In India
The names of the upcoming Kia cars are yet to be revealed by the carmaker. While Kia Tusker (SP-based compact SUV) has already been confirmed for India, the other four models might include the Rio hatchback, Optima sedan, Stonic crossover, Sportage SUV and Carnival MPV. We have driven the Rio hatchback and the review will be up soon on our YouTube channel.
The Optima sedan was also caught testing a few days back in the country. The Kia Stonic shares its platform with the Hyundai i20 and will be positioned against the Tata Nexon, Maruti Suzuki VItara Brezza and Ford EcoSport. While the Kia Sprotage will take on the Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson, the Kia Carnival won’t have any direct rival in India.
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