Kia Launches Venga Production in Slovakia

VIENNA – Volume output of the Kia Venga B-segment multipurpose vehicle is under way at the Kia Motors Slovakia plant in Teplicka nad Vahom, Slovakia.

The auto maker invested more than E40 million ($55.5 million) to modify the plant for the Venga.

Nearly 30,000 Vengas produced in Czech Republic this year prior to sourcing shift to Slovakia.

With last week’s Venga Job One ceremony in Teplicka, Hyundai-Kia wraps up the planned production shift between its European plants in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Kia Venga production originally started in November 2009, at the Hyundai Motor Mfg. Czech plant in Nosovice, Czech Republic.

In September 2010, the Czech factory added the Hyundai ix20, which shares its platform with the Venga.

Because sales of the Venga and ix20 were significantly lower than demand for the Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage cross/utility-vehicle platform mates produced at Kia’s Slovak facility, the Korean auto maker decided to transfer Venga production to Slovakia and build the ix35 at the Czech plant instead.

Hyundai’s Czech factory manufactured 6,088 Vengas in 2009, 48,886 last year and 27,727 in first-half 2011.

Serial production of the Hyundai ix35, known as the Tucson in the U.S., was launched in Czech Republic in late June.