Dedicated PBV Production Complex in Hwaseong (Image provided by Hyundai Motor Group)
SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-biggest carmaker, said Friday it held a ceremony to mark the completion of one facility and the groundbreaking of another for a purpose-built vehicle (PBV) production hub, as part of its broader push to become a future mobility solutions provider.
The company held a completion ceremony for the Hwaseong EVO Plant East and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Hwaseong EVO Plant West at a 300,000-square-meter site within its Autoland Hwaseong complex, located about 50 kilometers south of Seoul.
About 200 officials from the government and Hyundai Motor Group, including Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Kia President Song Ho-sung, attended the event, according to Kia.
The new facilities will be Hyundai Motor Group’s first PBV-dedicated production plants. The Hwaseong EVO Plant West is expected to begin operations in 2027.
Dedicated PBV Production Complex in Hwaseong (Image provided by Hyundai Motor Group)
As part of its strategy to build a PBV production hub, Kia plans to invest a total of 4 trillion won (US$2.74 billion) in the Hwaseong PBV complex, which will have an annual capacity of 250,000 PBVs.
“Kia is leveraging the electrification shift in the light commercial vehicle market as an opportunity to advance PBV as a future core business,” Song said in a welcome speech.
“We plan to produce 2.63 million electric vehicles in South Korea, accounting for 58 percent of our total EV production of 4.51 million units between 2026 and 2030, to help strengthen national industrial competitiveness,” he added.
Officials from the South Korean government and Hyundai Motor Group, including Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (5th from L) and Hyundai Motor Executive Chair Euisun Chung (5th from R) attend a ceremony to mark the completion and construction of Kia Corp.’s purpose-built vehicle production facilities in Hwaseong, some 50 kilometers south of Seoul, on Nov. 14, 2025. (Yonhap)
(Yonhap)
