Kostanay region anticipates three new automotive manufacturing plants to emerge by 2026

The Kostanay region will see three new automotive manufacturing enterprises over the next two years. The new facilities are expected to create 2,500 jobs, as reported by Kazakhstan’s Central Communication Service.

The first of these is a Kia car manufacturing plant, with an annual capacity of 70,000 vehicles and a workforce of 1,500 employees, expected to be commissioned by the end of this year. The same deadline has been set for another factory producing main gears for trucks, which will offer 550 new jobs.

Furthermore, a new vehicle component plant worth approximately $35.7 million is set to be commissioned in early 2026. According to the government, the facility will be capable of producing up to 60,000 components annually. The production site will cover an area of 30,000 square meters and create 800 jobs.

The facility will produce car components that were previously imported. These include seats, mufflers, bumpers, rearview mirrors, plastic body parts, wiring harnesses, exterior and interior components and car paints.

As of today, four large machinery manufacturing plants are active in the Kostanay region. They produce passenger cars, trucks and agricultural machinery. The fourth plant was commissioned in the fall of 2024.  

Once the aforementioned manufacturing plants are in place, the new component factory will become the region’s seventh production facility in this sector. It is expected that the new enterprises will increase the number of employees in the sector from 5,000 to 7,500.

Last September, Kursiv.media reported that a $200-million Kia vehicle plant will be launched in the Kostanay region in October 2025. The first test vehicle is scheduled for production in July 2025. Serial production at the plant will start from the Kia Sorento model followed by the updated version of the Sportage