Kia expansion underlines confidence in UK

Kia says a deal to create additional storage capacity at its UK import and distribution centre in Stallingborough, North Lincolnshire underlines the confidence the brand has in the UK market.

Kia will secure 16.8 hectares of land from Associated British Ports and the related construction contract, and will allow for an additional storage of 8,000 cars.

The current site covers 35.6 hectares of land and with this additional land Kia’s overall capacity will increase to 52.6 hectares of car storage facility. The multi-million pound development, awarded to Clugston Construction Limited, highlights the confidence the brand has in the UK and its continued presence within the UK market – the UK is the brands fifth biggest market globally and Kia ranks in the top 10 of car brands in the UK for sales.

Over 92,586 Kia cars were imported into the UK in 2018 and this figure is expected to rise in the coming years. Kia has ambitious plans to sell 100,000 cars a year by 2020 with over 1,000,000 Kia models having been sold in the UK since the brand first started in the UK in 1991.

In its construction the new facility will take 32 weeks and expect to be fully open in November 2019. Throughout construction it will employ up to 80 staff at any one time.

Kia is also investigating options for Solar PV generation which will support its battery charging facilities for its range of electric and hybrid models that come from Europe and Korea.