Kia Motors looks to set up a plant in India

Buoyed by the success of group company Hyundai Motor in India, Kia Motors is considering an India foray. It is learnt that the Korean chaebol has started preliminary discussions with state governments to locate its manufacturing operations.Sources familiar with the development said that Kia has met senior industry department officials in Tamil Nadu and have expressed desire to set shop in the state. “It is still very early days. They are still prospecting. Nothing has reached any finite stage as yet,’’ sources said.It is leant that Kia wants a completely integrated manufacturing set-up. Kia sells over 1.4 million vehicles a year produced across 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries, which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 165 countries. Kia has over 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of almost $17 billion. The Korean auto major has a complete suite of automotive products ranging from passenger cars to utility vehicles to commercial vehicles. It is not known for which of its segments the company is scouting locations. By 2014 the Hyundai group is expected to over double its factory capacity from 2001 levels to about 6.7 million.