Kia's $1 Billion Mexico Plant Stalls as `Brazen One' Spurns Pact

  • New state governor says he won't honor predecessor's promises
  • Factory lag sparks complaint by South Korea's President Park

Kia Motors assembly plant in Pesqueria, Mexico.

Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

For Kia Motors Corp. Mexico’s historic car boom isn’t working out as planned.

A dispute with a recently elected state leader may prevent the start of production next month at a northern Mexico car factory representing more than $1 billion in investment, Kia said Tuesday. The plant is in the cross hairs of Nuevo Leon Governor Jaime Rodriguez, a former rancher who threw out the ruling party in a landslide last year and says he opposes the deal Kia signed with his predecessor.