The plant in Zilina produced over 292,000 cars in 2012, a 15% year-on-year increase, while the total number of engines produced was up 29% to 464,000.

Currently producing models such as the new cee'd family, Venga and Sportage, the plant will begin production of the new pro_cee’d model in the first quarter of 2013, which will be joined by the brand’s first performance-orientated vehicle, the pro_cee’d GT, later this year.

Overall, the Zilina plant is expected to produce 290,000 vehicles and 490,000 engines in total during 2013.

Eek-Hee Lee, president and CEO of Kia Motors Slovakia, commented: ‘We have just completed a year of record production for Kia Motors Slovakia, demonstrating the fast-growing demand for Kia's range of models across Europe. It also represents the result of the hard work and enthusiasm of all our employees, who are currently undergoing training in advance of the launch of the new pro_cee'd.’

Vehicles produced at Kia Motors Slovakia are exported across Europe, with more than 22% of 2012 production having gone to Russia, 12% to the UK, 11% to Germany, 6% to France and 5% to Italy.

The most popular engine assembled at Zilina is the 1.6-litre diesel, with 99,000 examples produced in 2012, accounting for 21% of total engine production for the year.