WEST POINT - Officials expect thousands of applicants to seek jobs at a new Kia automobile assembly plant in west Georgia after the company began taking online applications Tuesday.
Kia Motors Corp. began taking applications about 11 a.m. The South Korea-based company said about 9,000 people had signed up at the Web site in advance of the announcement to receive an immediate alert when the application process opened.
Kia, which will manufacture the Sorento sports utility vehicle at its West Point, Ga., factory, is accepting applications only via the Internet.
Georgia's Kia plant is expected to create more than 2,500 jobs directly and many more at five nearby plants that supply parts.
Hiring is expected to begin in April. Cars should begin rolling off the assembly line in 2009.
West Point is about 75 miles southwest of Atlanta.
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On the Net:
Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia Inc., www.kiajobsingeorgia.com