Gov. Nathan Deal visited Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point on Wednesday, calling the plant “a premier example of job creation in the state.”

It was the governor’s first official visit to the plant since a recent $100 million expansion.

Deal toured the plant’s stamp shop, welding shop, assembly line, paint shop and test track, as well as the employee fitness room and canteen, accompanied by Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO for Kia Motors America and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia.

The $1.1 billion facility employs about 3,000 people and produces about a vehicle a minute, running three shifts a day, five days a week. Every finished car is put through rigorous testing and quality checks, including a test drive on a 2.2 mile track and a high-pressure shower to check for leaks.

Deal said he was very impressed with the plant, and he’d already picked out a car -- the latest model Optima that will be unveiled in a commercial during the Super Bowl.

“I liked the red one with the tan interior,” he said after the tour.

Deal said last week the state is in the final stages of luring another big business to Georgia. On Wednesday, he said the state always wants to attract more industry and jobs but did not give any details.

Deal called the West Point plant an “excellent example of the things Georgia has going for us right now.”

“If anyone wants to know the good things happening in Georgia, come here,” he said.

Sara Pauff, 706-320-4469