Kia Moves Production of Venga from the Czech Republic to Slovakia

South Korean car manufacturer Kia Motors said on Thursday that it has begun assembly of the Venga small MPV at its factory in the city of Zilina in Slovakia, which also builds the Cee'd family of C-segment models and the Sportage SUV.

Up until now, Kia produced the B-segment MPV at sister company's Hyundai Motor other European plant in the Czech Republic.

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Kia to Add Third Shift at Slovak and US Plants Due to High Demand

To keep up with rising demand for Kia models in Europe, the South Korean has decided to introduce a third shift at its Zilina plant in Slovakia and hire another 1,000 new employees. The company expects the recruitment process to be completed by December and have the three-shifts operational in the first quarter of 2012. Read more »

Kia Plug-ins to Geneva Show with Venga All-Electric Concept

Kia pulled the wraps of its first all-electric plug-in concept car based on the new Venga small MPV at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The main difference between the production and the concept version of the car is well hidden under the hood as Kia replaced the Venga's conventional powertrain with an electric motor producing 107HP (80kW) and a maximum torque of 280Nm.

According to the South Korean automaker, the Venga EV is capable of accelerating from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 11.8 seconds, and reaching a top speed of 140km/h or 87mph.

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