RAPID CITY - Billion Motors is opening a Kia dealership on Cambell Street in Rapid City, David Billion, vice president of the Sioux Falls auto dealership, confirmed.

The new dealership, named Billion Kia of Rapid City, will be at 1316 Cambell St., at the Select Auto Sales site. Billion said the business should be up and running in late November or early December.

Billion will sell new Kias and used cars. It will also have a full service department and parts department.

This will be the first time Rapid City has had a Kia dealership. Five years ago, a Kia dealer from Longmont, Colo., bought a campground on U.S. Highway 16 overlooking Rapid City. At the time, it appeared the campground would become a car lot. However, the car lot never materialized, and the Longmont company later sold the property.

Billion Motors picked up the Sioux Falls Kia franchise in 2001, and sales have been strong. He said the company sells betweem 75 and 80 Kias a month.

"We attribute that to the fact that Kia has a very strong product, very fresh. … They have a couple of very inexpensive sport utility vehicles and also some inexpensive economy cars," he said.

Kia Motors Corp. is based in Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1944 as a maker of steel tubing and bicycle parts. Kia has production capacity of 1.15 million vehicles a year, and Kias are sold in 160 countries. In the United States, the company sold 294,000 vehicles last year.

There are Kia dealerships in every state but North Dakota. The company has 10 models, including the Kia Sportage, the Kia Sedona and the Kia Optima.

Because of the low price, Billion said, a lot of car buyers come in to buy a used car and end up buying a new Kia. "It really fills a niche, and it's been working very well for us," he said.

Billion Motors also plans to open a Kia dealership in Sioux City, Iowa, in 2008.

The Rapid City shop won't need a lot of work to open as a brand-name dealership. The current site should be large enough to house the Kia dealership for three or four years. Billion Motors also bought land to the south of the Select Auto site.

"Hopefully we'll outgrow it and need to expand," he said.

Billion Motors bills itself as South Dakota's largest auto dealer. It has stores in Sioux Falls, Watertown, Salem and Worthing, Minn. Its 13 different brands include GMC truck, Buick, Jeep, Chrysler, Mazda, Toyota and Scion.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com