Mong-Koo Chung, chairman of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, referred to the U.S. auto market as a “changing marketplace” during his comments at the celebration in West Point of the official opening of its first auto-assembly plant in the United States.

Mr. Chung did not mention Toyota Motor Corp. during his remarks at the Feb. 26 ceremony. But he didn’t have to.

Kia is assembling Sorento CUVs, a crossover that will compete at $20,000 with the slightly more expensive Toyota RAV4 sport-utility vehicle at a time when Toyota is suffering from a public relations debacle because of a global recall of 8 million of its autos.

While Toyota is struggling to cling to its No. 2 spot for auto sales in the U.S., Hyundai-Kia is expected to see its sales climb 25 percent in the next few months, according to some analysts. Kia sold 7,398 Sorentos in January, the best-selling of all of its vehicles that month

Mr. Chung, who does not speak English, gave a "special touch" to the ceremony by reading his three-page address in English, Craig Lesser, Georgia's former commissioner of economic development who led the state's team during the original negotiations with Kia, told GlobalAtlanta upon his return to Atlanta after attending the ceremony.

Mr. Lesser said that the attendees listened closely throughout Mr. Chung's delivery and provided a standing ovation when he was finished. "To make the speech in English was an incredible courtesy to the American audience," he added.

“Kia’s decision to locate its first U.S. manufacturing operation here in Georgia will be a milestone for this company and our state,” said Gov. Sonny Perdue at the ceremony. “Georgia’s strengths will provide Kia with a competitive advantage as it expands its manufacturing base to North America.”

Some 500 dignitaries from Korea and the U.S. including company representatives, dealers and local and state officials attended the ceremony.

Byung-Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of the plant and Kia Motors America, also said that because of the West Point facility, Kia was “well positioned for further growth and to become a worldwide leader in quality and innovation.”

On hand were officials from all of the departments involved in Georgia’s recruitment effort including the state’s departments of economic development, transportation, labor, natural resources and revenue.

In addition, local representatives from the technical college system, the West Point Development Authority, the Development Authority of LaGrange, LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce and the cities of LaGrange and West Point attended.

The facility began producing the Sorentos in late November, and production lines are now running eight hours a day, five days a week with an increase to nine hours daily in March.

According to a news release from the governor’s office, the plant’s economic impact on the state is expected to be approximately $4 billion per year. A study of the Georgia Institute of Technology predicts that the economic benefits will include 20,000 new jobs by 2012 in a nine-county region.

More than 3,600 of these jobs have already been announced by suppliers who have located on or near the Kia site, about 80 miles southwest of Atlanta near Georgia’s border with Alabama.

Hyundai Kia’s other North American plant is in Montgomery, Ala., where the Sonata and Santa Fe models are produced.