Thieves stole over 900 engines from a Kia factory in India in what’s being described as a skilled inside job that spanned at least five years. Just how they were boosted from the factory and where they may have ended up remains unclear, even weeks after Kia Motors lodged a formal report with the local police.
The engines were pilfered from Kia’s assembly plant near Penukonda in the Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh. The ongoing thefts were discovered after the plant audited its operations for 2024, the Times of India reports, and investigators are still trying to determine exactly how the thieves managed to abscond with 900 assembled motors without being detected. While not huge blocks, these aren’t exactly tiny things you can put in your pocket, y’know?
Given the scale of the theft, it should come as no surprise that the authorities are looking at employees and others who had regular access to incoming and outgoing supply inventories.
“It [the thefts] started in 2020. It has been a continuous process for nearly five years. We will go deep into the investigation,” a police spokesperson told PTI. “It’s not outsiders—it’s from within. Not even a small part can leave the premises without the management’s knowledge. We’re investigating who was involved,” the spokesperson said.
“We conducted a preliminary inquiry, found certain loopholes, and are now targeting former employees, though we believe some current employees may also be involved.”
Initially, police suspected the engines were being diverted in transit from other manufacturing facilities, but the investigation has since turned to the plant itself, where Kia builds the Sonet, Syros, Seltos, and Carens for the domestic market.
The plant builds between 300,000 and 400,000 vehicles a year, which helps explain why even hundreds of engines could go unaccounted for over a period of several years.
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