Kia to assemble 25,000 vehicles annually in Lagos

About a year after announcing its plan to go into local vehicle production, Kia Motors Nigeria has made good its promise with the inauguration of its assembly plant in Lagos. The firm said in a statement obtained on Tuesday that with the unveiling of its new assembly plant, United Vehicle Assembly Limited, it would be able to produce 25,000 vehicles per annum. The statement quoted the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, as expressing his delight at the successful completion of the new plant. Aganga, on a visit to the new assembly plant, was quoted to have said, “I am pleasantly surprised at the level of success and the advanced technology of this plant. I have visited different auto assembly plants across the globe and I can tell you that with the level of the quality assurance control and the sophistication of the equipment of this assembly plant, it can compete with others internationally.” The Chief Executive Officer, UVAL, Mr. Jacky Hathiramani, said, “The move to establish an assembly plant stems from the tide of investment aimed at Nigeria and keying into the country’s automotive policy. “We are committed to making Nigeria a leading auto manufacturing country in Africa and to contribute immensely to the development of the nation through this multi-billion naira investment.” He stressed that the plant had employed engineering graduates from Nigerian universities and would continue to provide employment for the citizens. “With today’s opening of our plant in Lagos, we have taken our growth commitment to a greater height in Nigeria and reposition our brand to the teeming publics by supporting the proudly Nigeria dream,” Hathiramani said. The statement also quoted the Chief Commercial Officer, Kia Motors Nigeria, Mr. Sandeep Malhotra, as saying, “The unprecedented stride of Kia brand in the automobile industry in Nigeria has continued to outpace competitions in offering best in class automotive technology to its customers. “Premised on our increased acceptability among our valued customers in the last decade, we are now looking at further strengthening our foothold and expanding our reach in the Nigerian market with the new assembly plant.” According to the firm, Kia recently launched its made in Nigeria vehicles such as Kia Rio, Cerato, Optima, Sorento and Soul. It also promised to start producing all the Kia models, including sedans, sport utility vehicles and pickups before the end of the year. “It has continuously embarked on promising growth trajectory with a positive growth for over a decade, making it one of the fastest growing automobiles in Nigeria,” the firm said, adding that this was in a bid to strengthen its leadership role in the industry. Founded in 1944, Kia Motor Corporation, one of the Korea’s oldest manufacturers of motor vehicles, is said to have the record of producing over 2.5 million vehicles a year. The statement also said KMC was currently making vehicles in 15 manufacturing and assembly operations in 10 countries, “which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 149 countries. Kia today has over 47,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $39bn.”