Georgia plant to build small cars for Kia and Hyundai

Kia's new Georgia assembly plant is scheduled to build a new compact car for the South Korean brand starting from next year, however the same plant could also be used to supply a new small model for Hyundai as well. Kia’s new small car is likely to be the new Soul hatch (pictured), revealed in production trim last week, but Hyundai is yet to reveal plans for a similar model.

Hyundai is looking at launching more compact vehicles following its announcement that it had drop plans for a new pickup truck. "Small cars are where we are headed," Hyundai CEO Kim Dong-Jin told reports at a recent press event. "We neglected the small-car segment the last few years."

The new small car is expected to be a C-segment model and will be about the same size as the Kia Spectra, reports Automotive News.

At the same press event, Hyundai’s U.S. product development chief John Krafcik revealed there would be more focus on small-displacement engines and on turbocharging. He also confirmed that Hyundai's Genesis coupe will get a turbocharged four-cylinder as well as a V6 when it goes on sale next spring.

Production Kia Soul

2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe