Kia to build engine plant in Slovakia

AFP

South Korean car maker Kia Motors said it would build a new engine production facility worth 100 million euros ($A147.89 million) in Slovakia.

Kia, which already produces cars and engines in the central European country, said in a press release it expected the new facility to launch operations in 2011 and reach a full annual production capacity of 150,000 engines the following year.

The investment will add 270 direct jobs to the 2,700 people already working in Kia's vast auto complex near Zilina, northern Slovakia.

In 2009, Kia Motors raised engine production in its Slovak plant by 37 per cent against the previous year when it produced 243,000 engines there.