The world’s eighth largest car maker Kia Motors will be pricing its SUVs between ₹9 lakh and ₹16 lakh. The company is rolling out its first vehicle from its Anantapur plant on January 29.
The vehicles will be marketed within the country, according to Manohar Bhat, Head, Sales & Marketing.
“We will be rolling out petrol and diesel vehicles in the first year and bring out the electric vehicles. The range of the proposed SUVs will be similar to the ones existing in the market. Our vehicles will meet all emission norms in the country,” Mr. Manohar Bhat told The Hindu here.
The roll out ceremony would be attended by South Korean Ambassador Shin Bong-kil, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Kia senior management and other dignitaries.
The Kia Motors has invested over $1billion on the Anatapur plant and the ancillary industries another $1 billion here. The facility has a production capacity of 3,00,000 vehicles per annum. Over 10,000 people are involved in the production facilities at Anantapur and other places, of which 3,000 are employed by the Kia, according to Mr. Manohar.
Kia will be localising the designs to make them attractive in the Indian market. “Design and quality are our differentiators in the market across the world. There will not be any cross-badging and our vehicles will stand out,” Mr. Manohar said. The SUVs will be rolled out from July.
Hailing the State government for extending cooperation in setting up the facility in a record time, he said the company would bring in technical know-how to the government to set up charging stations and infrastructure needed to operationalise electric vehicles.