KIA Motor Company's parent company Hyundai has called off plans to build pickup trucks at the west Georgia factory now under construction.
Planning map of the now-under-construction Kia plant, at the West Point city hall. (Dave Bender)
Hyundai had reportedly planned to build a mid-sized truck at the KIA factory in West Point, which is set to open in 2009, according to an article in Automotive News:
"Hyundai CEO Kim Dong-Jin said the company's board in 'a recent decision' scrapped plans for a unibody pickup in the United States. Kim said the original plan was to build a mid-sized truck for Kia and Hyundai at Kia’s new plant in West Point, Ga."Hyundai cited soaring gas prices, and a sluggish housing market.
“But we are forced to give up production of the pickup at the North America plant,” Dong-Jin said, according to the article.
Still, Kia officials say construction is continuing, and they're still training workers. They're also still discussing what models they'll produce, according to KIA Human Resources Director
Randy Jackson:
"Earlier we released that we'd be manufacturing the SUV as the first model, and then we have said our second model -- we're still under discussion to determine what that'll be, and we have not reached a conclusion on that announcement yet."The plant will eventually assemble 300,000 vehicles a year.
Sign of the times on a West Point resident's lawn, supporting the Kia plant. (Dave Bender)
Click here for more GPB coverage of the KIA facility.
