Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker under Hyundai Motor Group, has enjoyed a 40 percent surge in vehicle output at its facility in Gwangju in the first six months of this year following a mixed production strategy.

Maeil Business Newspaper made a visit to Kia’s AutoLand Gwangju Plant 1 in Seo District last week. The factory was filled with the pungent smell of welding and paint. What caught particular attention was the unfamiliar sight of electric cars and internal combustion engine cars being built simultaneously on the same line.

On one side of the line, batteries were being automatically installed in the Soul EV while on the other side workers were installing engines in the Seltos engine-based cars.

The plant is the largest auto production facility in South Jeolla Province, spanning 330,000 square meters. It produces Seltos compact sport utility vehicle (SUV), Soul Booster, and Soul Booster EV.

Both domestic and export volumes are manufactured here. The Soul, which was discontinued in Korea in 2021, is now being exported to the U.S. and other countries.

Car production begins with the panel pressing process that shapes the car. A giant robotic arm is busy forming the body of the car.

The car body is then welded together and headed to the paint shop. The painting process, which is vulnerable to even the smallest amount of dust, is closed to outsiders. Tens of thousands of parts were assembled on the body to complete the car’s shape.

On a zigzag-shaped conveyor belt, the electric cars passed right by the engine installation process, while internal combustion engine vehicles such as the Soul and Seltos passed the process of installing electric motors and batteries.

“The biggest difference between the production of internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs is whether they are equipped with batteries or engines,” said an official at the plant.

“As the production facilities have become more advanced, we can flexibly carry out mixed production according to demand,” he added.

Kia AutoLand Gwangju saw its annual car production increase 800 percent to around 540,000 units in 2014 from 60,000 units in 1998, but production remained stagnant until last year.

Recently, however, production has been on the rise with the strengthening of mixed production and the easing of the shortage of automotive semiconductors.

According to Kia AutoLand Gwangju, production in the first half of this year increased by 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

The company is looking for a breakthrough by strengthening its mixed production system with an increasing share of EVs, which is expected to support the automaker’s electrification strategy.

Earlier this year, the company raised its EV sales target to 1.6 million units by 2030.

By Park So-ra and Yoon Yeon-hae

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]