DAILY - UPDATED
KIA NEWS
&
SPY SHOTS
REVIEWS
SALES REPORTS
New Kia plant in Georgia starts production of 2011 Sorento
Kia’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia is open for business and starts production of the 2011 Sorento.
It’s no longer months or weeks until Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia starts production of the 2011 Sorento.
It’s now days. Cars have been rolling off the assembly lines for weeks now, but the official start of production is still mid-November, said Randy Jackson, KMMG director of human resources and administration.
That’s what Kia officials have said since the Korean auto manufacturer announced its plans to locate its first American manufacturing facility in West Point back in March 2006.
KMMG opened its doors this week to introduce the national media to the plant and the 2011 Sorento.
On Thursday, press representatives from various Web sites and magazines viewed the training center, which is down Kia Parkway from the plant, and the plant itself.
The public has not been allowed to tour the plant yet, but officials say they will be offered the chance in the future.
The one part of the plant that was completely off-limits to the group was the paint shop. Danny Gordon, who works in stamping, said the environment of the paint shop is so delicate, even the employees that work there can’t wear certain deodorants or colognes because it could adversely affect the paint process.
They must wear lint-free suits and caps, he added… continue your read here.
Well you guys in the US can’t be far away from getting the new Sorento released. I loved reading about the new production plant in Georgia. It must be very exciting for the workers there, with a brand new plant and a brand new vehicle. It was also good reading about the stamping plant and the new transfer press they have there, as I spent many years in stamping and hardware myself and its a definite science to be able to press out parts for a car from a flat piece of sheet steel and to be completely wrinkle and flaw free. An even bigger science is to press these deep draw side rails and cross-members as they are all made of high tensile steel these days.
Good luck guys.
glad to hear that the time is almost here to start production. It should be very exciting for all those production workers and for the people in the area who have been waiting for this moment for such a long time. Congratulations
I wonder what other vehicle they will start to build their after they get going on the Sorento?
The best part for me is all of the quality testing. I hope that Kia has less tolerance for imperfection. GM’s tolerance is up to one millimeter. That’s pitiful. One millimeter??? COME ON!
himi, did u know, a screen-shot of this blog came up on CNN? it was a program where CNN was showing how fast Kia has come up in recent years.
srry bout the off-topic comment. you can get the link for the vid on Kia-Buzz.
Same here, the most interesting part of the read was the quality testing. Sounds thorough and very impressive. Kudos, Kia!
Kia has stated the official US release date for the 2011 Sorento as January 2010
Seems kinda early for release having just read the story about the brand new Sorento line. Humm.
Hey, Boris, I didn’t see the vid yet, but I’ll check it out ASAP!
GOOD NEWS!! The Kia hamsters will be back for the 2011 Kia Sorento!!! piece together the URL of the article below. Oh, and “hamster” is spelled h-a-m-s-t-e-r. Please refrain from using a ‘p’ after the ‘m’. That tends to offend the hamsters 😛
–
industry ‘dot’ bnet ‘dot’ com/auto/10002820/kia-revives-hip-hamsters-to-do-heavy-lifting-for-the-brand/
I saw a Sorento commerical Friday night. It was on in a bar and I was outside, so couldn’t hear it or read any of the fine print. But it was saying was official vehicle of NBA.
Where in the world are you?
Yep KIAs been tight with the NBA here, Soocer in Europe, Tennis and the VANS warp tour. A lot of advertising.
I’m in South Carolina, but at the time was in Atlanta.
You probably saw a Sorento commercial because of the new West Point factory in the area.
Kia jeep concept for military:
http://www.rpm9.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=4907
When me boss and I were in Atlanta, GA, in Oct. of ’08 I saw a silver Borrego inside the Atl.Int’l Airport on display. It looked very cool, people were rushing all around it and nobody was stopping to check it out. Looked almost excessive, with it’s large size, but it had that distinctively superior styling to it that pulled my eyes towards it. BTW-this is nothing new, Kia’s superior body styling compared to other carmakers. Remember that better body design on the Ford Festiva, compared to the homely Chevy Sprint, in 1988? Well I do, plain as day. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!