Kia India Celebrates 1 Million ‘Make in India’ Production Units with the Roll-out of its New Seltos
- Kia becomes India’s fastest and youngest carmaker to achieve this milestone
- Brand Seltos contributes over 50% to the production milestone with over 5.3 lakh units
Chennai – Kia India, today celebrated the historical milestone of dispatching one million vehicles from its futuristic manufacturing facility at Anantapur by rolling out the first unit of its newest innovation – The new Seltos. This celebration also marks the production commencement of New Seltos which is one of the most evolved, Safer, and Smarter SUVs to be available in India. The new Seltos comes with a new-age design, 32 safety features including the most-advanced Level 2 ADAS with 17 Features and much-awaited features like panoramic sunroof. It will be available for pre-bookings in India from 14 July 2023 onwards. This significant achievement underscores Kia’s commitment to the Indian market and showcases the success of its strategic approach.
Unveiling the 1 millionth car, Tae-Jin Park, Managing Director and CEO, Kia India, said, “This is a big moment for us, our employees, and our partners who have lived and supported our journey and helped us in making Kia an integral part of Indian consumer’s lives today. We are extremely grateful for their support and the love of our customers. I feel that the future is bright for Kia India, and the new Seltos marks the beginning of an exhilarating chapter as we continue to drive towards automotive excellence in the Indian market. We will remain dedicated to driving innovation, pushing boundaries, and shaping the future of mobility in India.”
Kia made its entry into the Indian market with the launch of the Seltos in August 2019, which quickly became one of India’s favorite SUV brands. In a record time of 46 months, it achieved the remarkable milestone of 500,000 sales. Kia further expanded its product portfolio with the Carnival and Sonet in 2020, followed by the Carens and EV6 in 2022, solidifying its position in the Indian market. The state-of-the-art Kia facility at Anantapur has so far manufactured over 532,450 units of Seltos (Both outgoing and incoming), followed by 3,32,450 units of the Sonet, 1,20,516 units of the Carens and 14, 584 units of the Carnival.
As a part of the one million celebration, Kia India also unveiled its vision for future “Inspiring Mobility Solutions that enrich lives”. Under this, Kia India will focus on providing an inspiring mobility experience to the discerning new age Indian customer. It aims to transform into Kia 2.0 by garnering 10% market share soon with new segment entries, customer centric innovations and expanding the network from 300+ to 600+ salespoints.
Kia India strongly believes that the only way to create more organic growth is by creating a stronger Kia brand affinity amongst new age customers through focused community and employee development initiatives. That’s why it has already started an impact movement through its CSR initiatives – Project DROP (Develop Responsible Outlook for Plastic), and Uphaar (gifting fruit trees to farmers in need). While DROP aims to address the alarming concern of plastic waste and restrict its spread across landfills and water bodies, Uphaar is a tree plantation program initiated to extend support to the marginalized agrarian community and combat climate change. Through its ‘Lifestyle Management’ program, Kia is providing its employees with access to a diverse range of experts who can offer guidance and support for their physical and mental well-being.
Additionally, Kia India is supporting a slew of community development programs including a comprehensive skill development and livelihood enhancement program for rural women to support the communities in and around the plant. In collaboration with Kia India, Timbaktu collective will train local women in a 36-week program for helping them gain economic independence.
Some of the other CSR initiatives taken up by the Kia India include auto service technician program for local students, library block building for Penukonda Government Degree College, contribution to modern labs of Dhone ITI College, donation of consumables to super specialty cathlab in Anantapur; Plantation Drive in Subbarauni Palli; Medical Equipment & Daycare Shelter for Primary Health Center (PHC), Guntur, Penukonda.
Kia India marked a significant achievement by celebrating the production of 1 million units in a special ceremony held at its global facility in Anantapur. The event was highlighted by the unveiling of the New Seltos as the 1 millionth car. The ceremony was graced by the presence of esteemed guests from Govt. of Andhra Pradesh including Hon’ble Minister for Finance, Planning and Legislative Affairs, Mr. Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of Industries, Infrastructure, Investment & Commerce, Information Technology, Mr. Gudivada Amarnath, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Mr. Gorantla Madhav and Hon’ble Member of the Legislative Assembly from Penukonda, Mr. G Sankaranarayana.
About – Kia India
In April 2017, Kia India signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, to build a new manufacturing facility at Anantapur District. Kia commenced mass production in August 2019 and has an annual production capacity of approximately 300,000 units. In April 2021, Kia India reimagined itself in line with its new brand identity, “Movement that Inspires” aimed at offering customers meaningful experiences backed by innovative products and services. Under the new brand identity, Kia has set out to find ways to achieve new benchmarks and inspire consumers to be more and do more. Till date, Kia India has launched five vehicles for the Indian market – the Seltos, the Carnival, the Sonet, the Carens, and the EV6. Kia India has completed over 10 lakh dispatches from its Anantapur plant, including over 7.5 lakh domestic sales and close to 2.5 lakh exports. With over 3 lakh connected cars on Indian roads, it is among the connected Car leaders in the country. The brand has a widespread network of 432 touchpoints across 213 cities and is focused on strengthening its footprints across the country.
About – Kia Corporation
Kia (www.kia.com) is a global mobility brand with a vision to create sustainable mobility solutions for consumers, communities, and societies around the world. Founded in 1944, Kia has been providing mobility solutions for more than 75 years. With 52,000 employees worldwide, a presence in more than 190 markets, and manufacturing facilities in six countries, the company today sells around three million vehicles a year. Kia is spearheading the popularization of electrified and battery electric vehicles and developing a growing range of mobility services, encouraging millions of people around the world to explore the best ways of getting around. The company’s brand slogan – ‘Movement that inspires’ – reflects Kia’s commitment to inspire consumers through its products and services.
For more information, visit the Kia Global Media Center at www.kianewscenter.com