Kia Motors Europe has announced it will be building a new £52.8m, 11-storey headquarters in Frankfurt.

The new building will be built on land currently in the Frankfurt Messe convention centre where the bi-annual Frankfurt International Motor Show is held, and will be open for business in October 2006.

Currently Kia’s European headquarters are on the outskirts of Frankfurt in the suburb of Eschborn.

The site in the Frankfurt Messe covers 4,000 square metres but the building will provide 26,000 square metres of space for the 350 Kia and related automotive company staff. It will provide Kia’s European IT hub, a sales and service training academy plus a base for Kia’s pan-European sales, marketing and support staff.