Who Makes Kia Cars And Where Are They Built?

Since the late 2000s, Kia has dedicated significant time and capital toward research and development with the goal of refining its products. And fortunately for the Korean brand, it has benefitted from the perks of a great reputation that inevitably comes with such terrific efforts. Over the course of the last decade, the Seoul-based automaker has become a household name among car buyers, with consumers purchasing Kia vehicles due to their relatively lower prices, efficient engines, and practicality. In 2022, Kia, along with parent company Hyundai, ranked as the third-largest automaker worldwide with combined sales of 6.84 million units, putting it just behind Toyota and Volkswagen Group as the world's best-selling carmaker.

Additionally, Kia has gained a reputation for being one of the most reliable car brands in the U.S., with the likes of the 2024 Kia Telluride earning an 8 out of 10 from our own Chris Davies, as well as top marks for reliability from J.D. Power (86/100). However, even with Kia's growing popularity, certain information about it, such as who makes Kia cars and where these cars are made, may not be commonly known.

Kia designs and manufactures its own cars. According to the automaker, car production takes place in 14 manufacturing facilities in eight different countries around the world, with its home country of Korea playing host to four of these plants: Kia Hwasung plant, Sohari factory in Gwangmyeong, Kia Seosan plant, and Kia Gwangju plant, where the likes of the Kia Sportage and Seltos are made. Moving Stateside, Kia has a manufacturing plant known as Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) in West Point, Georgia. Being the only Kia production facility in the Americas, the 2,200-acre plant manufactures every Kia model made in the USA, including the Kia Telluride, Sportage, Sorento, K5, and the three-row, electric EV9 SUV.

Elsewhere, Kia also has one production facility each in Mexico (Monterey plant), Slovakia (Zilina plant), and India (Anantapur plant), as well as three in China (Yancheng Plant 1, Yancheng Plant 2, and Yancheng Plant 3) that manufacture for local use. In addition, Kia has several dedicated design centers where its design think-tanks conceive future models. Some of these include the Kia Design Center America in Irvine, California; Kia Design Center Korea in Hwaseong, South Korea; and the Kia Design Center Europe in Frankfurt, Germany.