Kia's West Point debut

By Tammy Joyner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Next week, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia officially begins building mini SUVs at its new plant in West Point. Here’s a snapshot of the South Korean company, its likely economic impact, the foreign-car industry in the Southeast, and the status of Atlanta’s recently closed Ford and GM plants.

About Kia Motors

• World headquarters: 
Seoul, South Korea

• History: Founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycles, it is South Korea’s oldest auto company. In 1997, during Asia’s financial crisis, Kia was placed under bankruptcy protection. South Korean rival Hyundai Motor Co. bought a 51 percent stake in Kia. Today, Hyundai owns less than 40 percent of Kia.

• The name: Originally known as Kyungsung Precision Industry, the company name was changed in 1952 to Kia, a Sino-Korean phrase meaning “rising out of Asia.”

• Worldwide employment: 57,000

• U.S. plant site: West Point, Ga.

• Plant size: 750,000 square feet, roughly the size of 13 football fields

• Top officer: Byung Mo Ahn, chief executive, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia

• Vehicle to be manufactured: Sorento crossover SUV

• Vehicle production: About 300,000 a year

• Plant jobs in Georgia: 2,400*

• Employee pay: $14.90 to $20.80 per hour

• Affiliated jobs in Georgia: Up to 20,000

• Kia’s investment in Georgia: 
$1 billion

• Public investment in Kia plant: $558 million**

* Includes 1,200 more workers to be hired next year, Kia announced last week.

** Includes investments from West Point, Troup County and state of Georgia for roads, training, tax breaks and other incentives, and $80 million from the federal government.

Did you know...

• Foreign cars represent 43 percent of the more than 360,000 new cars and light trucks registered in Georgia in 2008?

• More than half of all vehicles sold by foreign automakers in the United States are made in this country?

• International automakers have invested more than $41 billion in 109 U.S. auto plants, parts-making facilities, and research and development centers since 1982?

• Foreign carmakers account for 33 percent of yearly national production levels?

Auto suppliers

Georgia is home to more than 300 parts manufacturers and suppliers, which employ more than 23,600 workers. A big part of Kia’s success will be its flexibility and greater efficiency in problem-solving, which is why many of its suppliers are nestled in and around West Point or within 100 miles. Some are even within the Kia complex.

For instance, one company, Powertech, will send transmissions to Kia’s sister company Hyundai Motor in Montgomery. At the same time, an on-site engine plant in Montgomery will make engines for the Kia Sorento being built in West Point. Other automakers in the Southeast also rely on having suppliers close by.

Status report: Atlanta’s closed auto plants

Ford (Hapeville): Closed October 2006

Jacoby Development Inc., developers of Atlantic Station, are in the midst of a 10-year development plan aimed at transforming the former Ford plant site into a work-play-stay complex. Demolition of the plant’s 2.6 million square feet of buildings is done, said Jacoby Senior Vice President Scott Condra. About 90 percent of the debris is being recycled. The Georgia Environmental Protection division recently approved soil cleanup at the site, Condra said. “We’re now set to start building back.”

Plans include 6.5 million square feet of office towers, retail space, three hotels and parking that will be linked to the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

General Motors (Doraville): Closed September 2008

“As far as we know, it still hasn’t been sold,” said Luke Howe, assistant to Doraville Mayor Ray Jenkins. “There has been some continued interest from New Broad Street in Orlando, Fla. But no real hard proposal has been presented to the city at this time.” New Broad Street is a developer specializing in new urbanism. Many of the principals at the company worked at Disney before forming their own company.

Sources: Kia, staff reports, Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, Georgia.org, auto company Web sites, Automotive News, news services