Tropical storm prompts Kia Motors to halt production until Wednesday

Stormy weather from Hurricane Irma has prompted Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point, Ga., north of Columbus to shut down vehicle production until Wednesday morning.

The South Korea-based automaker said its massive plant off Interstate 85 in Troup County has canceled on three shifts for hourly production employees on Tuesday, with salaried employee working an “altered schedule” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Production will ramp back up at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, said the company that manufactures the Kia Optima sedan and the Sorento crossover utility vehicle.

Kia staffers should call 706-902-7777 for weather-related production updates, the company said.

The Georgia plant, which employs about 3,000 people, in May announced it had manufactured 1 million Sorento CUVs. It has made more than 2.4 million vehicles altogether.

The assembly plant opened in November 2009 and has a yearly capacity of 360,000 vehicles. Overall, the Kia operation has generated about 15,000 jobs in the region, which includes auto parts suppliers that located around the mother plant.

This story was originally published September 11, 2017 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Tropical storm prompts Kia Motors to halt production until Wednesday."