South Korean carmaker Kia is investing more than $200 million to expand a plant in the US state of Georgia to assemble electric vehicles.
New jobs
About 200 jobs are to be created at the plant. The plant currently produces 340,000 cars a year and will have 2,700 employees by 2021. The EV9 will be Kia’s first electric vehicle assembled in North America. Assembly in North America is a requirement for vehicles to qualify for U.S. tax credits of up to $7,500 for the purchase of an EV.
Other projects
Among other things, electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive is building a $5 billion plant in Georgia, and Hyundai Motor Group and SK On announced in December that they will build a new battery plant in the state to supply U.S. assembly plants for South Korean automakers. Hyundai and SK plan to begin operations in 2025. The investment could be worth an estimated four to five billion USD and create 3,500 jobs.
The automaker itself, Hyundai, began construction of an electric vehicle and battery plant in Georgia in October. SK Innovation opened a $2.6 billion battery plant last January to produce batteries for the Ford F-150 electric car, Reuters noted.
Source Czech Press Office
