MEXICO - One year ago, Kia started construction of a brand new plant, today cars are rolling off the line, with mass expansion planned.

• Kia is the ninth best-selling automotive brand in Mexico only a year after entering market
• More than 30,000 units sold since arrival in Mexico
• Kia Motors expects to reach five per cent market share and sales of 100,000 units annually in Mexico by 2020

Kia has celebrated its first anniversary of sales in Mexico and has announced that the Niro, its first Hybrid Utility Vehicle (HUV), will be sold there by the end of 2016 to strengthen Kia’s product lineup in the country.

Kia Motors Mexico has fulfilled its goals and met high expectations in the domestic market by offering high-quality products with attractive designs. With 34,517 units sold during the first 12 months of operation in Mexico, Kia has already become the ninth best-selling brand in the country. The production of the Forte started last May in the new high-tech Kia plant in Nuevo Leòn, which produces up to 300,000 cars a year, 20 per cent of which are for the local market.

"This has been a year of great challenges and also of extraordinary accomplishments for Kia Motors, exceeding our own expectations," said Seong Bae Kim, President and CEO of Kia Motors Mexico. "We are very happy and proud to have successfully established a comprehensive retail dealer network throughout the country, providing world-class service to Mexican consumers," he said.

As part of the celebration of Kia Mexico’s first anniversary, the automaker opened 25 new dealers in 21 new cities this week in record time. Following on from the success of the past year, the company expects to sell 45,000 units in 2016, which is equivalent to a local market share of over three per cent. By the end of this year, seven signature models (Sportage, Sorento, Cerato, Rio, Optima, Soul, and Niro - the all-new Hybrid Utility Vehicle) will be available in Mexico.

"We have had a very successful year, all the more significant in a market where more than 40 brands compete,” said Horacio Chavez, Managing Director of Kia Motors Mexico. "However, our challenge goes on and we work every day to strengthen the brand with the best products and the best customer service. Our aim is to achieve five per cent market share in the next four years," he said.

MEXICO - Volkswagen tests the line in Puebla, Mexico, to ensure perfect build quality of the LWB Tiguan SUV.

• The first test body was built to check the calibration of the body shop equipment and the processes involved

Volkswagen de México has reached an early production milestone with the assembly of the first test body-in-white for the upcoming Tiguan Long Wheel Base, LWB, scheduled to begin its production during the first quarter of 2017.

After the construction of the new building for the body shop was concluded at the end of 2015, equipment and machinery installation is now nearing completion. The first test body was built in June to check the calibration of body shop equipment and processes.

The new body shop facility has an extension of 70,800 square meters. . So far, nearly 700 containers with more than 50,000 tons of equipment have arrived at the Puebla plant to be installed in the new building. 

The core of the highly automated production process are 800 Fanuc welding robots. Training programs for the personnel responsible for the programming of the robots and the automation controls are ongoing.

The first test body of Tiguan LWB was presented to the group of executives and workers that were part of this milestone.

Volkswagen de México will produce the Tiguan LWB, starting early 2017, for the worldwide markets, with exception of China.