Kia Motors Slovakia reached a net profit of EUR 25.9 million in 2009. The revenues for the year of 2009 represent EUR 1.68 billion.
The company produced more than 150,000 vehicles in total, most of them were for export. The revenues from exports were 97.8% of total revenues. During the year the company successfully launched the production of the new version of cee'd and invested more than EUR 58 million in installation of new technologies and equipment for new models’ production.
"I am very pleased that in the year of 2009, which was difficult for the entire automotive industry, we were able to keep the employment, to launch a new cee'd production and to increase the engine production. Thanks to the cost reduction measures and responsible approach of our employees, we managed to make a profit. We successfully prepared to launch a volume production of the sport-utility vehicles such as Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage, which is very important for us from the long-term perspectives," said In-Kyu Bae, President and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia.
In 2009, Kia Motors produced two models such as Kia cee'd and Kia Sportage. The Kia cee'd model represented more than 80% of the total production. Last year, over 97.5% of the total produced vehicles were exported. In overall, 19.6% of all produced cars were exported to Russia, followed by the UK (11.8%), Germany (10.5%), Poland (6.9%) and Italy (6.3%). The most requested versions of model cee’d among customers were the five-door hatchback (38%) and a sporty wagon cee’d_sw, which represented approximately one third of the total number of produced cars.
Kia Motors Slovakia also produces engines as the only car producer in the Slovak Republic. In 2009, the company produced more than 244,000 engines which represent a 37% year-on-year increase with a 55% share of the gasoline engine. The most popular engine was the 1.4-litre gasoline engine (41%), followed by 1.6-litre diesel engine (27%).
