South Korea's Kia Motors said yesterday it was looking at following in the footsteps of its parent, Hyundai Motor, and build a plant in the US to expand its presence in the world's biggest automarket.
Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo met with Mississippi governor Haley Barbour on Monday to discuss the feasibility of building a Kia Motor plant in the southern US state, Kia said.
Barbour promised various incentives including the construction of infrastructure, training of workers and tax benefits.
The group was interested in the state but had not decided when and where to build its first US plant, a Kia Motors spokesman said.
"We strongly feel the necessity of having a plant in the United States and we are intrigued by the generous offer from Mississippi," he said.
"But we don't have any concrete plan concerning the timing and place to build a plant in the United States," he said.
He said a Kia plant in the US would most likely produce sports utility vehicles as Hyundai produces mid-sized sedans at its plant in Montgomery, Alabama.
Hyundai's one-billion-dollar Montgomery plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 cars.
Kia has two other overseas plants, in China and Slovakia.
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