Top tier supplier signs on for Kia facility in West Point

Hyundai Mobis to supply subassemblies for Kia’s first U.S. automotive plant

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that that Hyundai Mobis, a major automotive supplier for Kia Motors Corporation, will locate a facility in Georgia. The company anticipates that it will create 600 jobs and invest $60 million by 2010.

“Signing the first supplier for Kia’s Georgia operation is an important milestone for the economy of West Point and for our state,” said Governor Perdue. “We welcome Mobis to Georgia and are pleased that these critical automotive assemblies will be made by our talented Georgia workforce.”

In a signing ceremony held today in West Point, Mobis Georgia, LLC, inked a contract with the Troup County boards of Commissioners, Education and Tax Assessors, as well as the City of West Point and the West Point Development Authority, to build a 310,000-square-foot facility that will supply the $1 billion Kia Motors Manufacturing (KMMG) plant. The Kia facility, its first in the U.S., is scheduled to begin production in 2009 and produce 300,000 vehicles a year.

Hyundai Mobis is the largest auto parts company in Korea and a primary, tier one supplier to Kia and Hyundai around the world. The Mobis facility, which will be constructed on the Kia site in West Point, will build front-end modules, front-rolling chassis modules, rear-chassis modules and cockpit modules, as well as front and rear bumpers and other auto parts for Kia. Mobis will begin construction in the third quarter of 2007.

“This new facility aligns with Hyundai Mobis’s strategy to support Kia’s growth as well as our own,” said Heeman Rhyoo, president of Mobis Georgia, LLC. “The Georgia plant will be an important element of our global presence, and we look forward to a long and productive future here.”

“This is another great day for West Point. We welcome Mobis Georgia to our growing list of automotive industry companies,” said West Point Mayor Billy Head. “The jobs created and investment made will impact the entire region and state. We thank the local government and state agencies who joined our effort to bring Mobis to West Point. Working together, we can continue to make Georgia a better place to live and work.”

Established in 1977 as a container manufacturer called Hyundai Precision and Industry, Hyundai Mobis became a leading automotive parts company in 1999. The West Point facility will be its third U.S. operation, joining plants in Alabama and Ohio. In addition to its Korean operations, the company has also established facilities in China, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and is expanding to India.