Knock-down kit
[1] CKD is a common practice in the automotive, bus, heavy truck, and rail vehicle industries, as well as electronics, furniture and other products.
Knock-down kit assembly plants are less expensive to establish and maintain because they do not need modern robotic equipment, and the workforce may be less costly than in the country of origin.
[2] In the automotive industry, the most basic form of a vehicle in the KD kit lacks the wheels, internal combustion engine, transmission, and battery.
At some point, the steel body could be pressed, welded, and painted locally, effectively making KD assembly only a few steps away from full-scale production.
By 1959, and with the introduction of the Mini, British Motor Corporation (BMC) products were still either imported or assembled from CKD kits in several international markets.
The arrangement benefited the French automaker because its product range lacked large-sized cars, and it needed to offer an "executive" model for its European markets.
Volvo's Halifax Assembly Plant, which opened in 1963, completed vehicles in CKD form from Sweden for North American consumers.
In 1967, Rootes Group UK began exporting CKD Hillman Hunters to Iran where they were sold as the Paykan (meaning "arrow" in Persian).
The 404 and 504 were massively marketed worldwide through local CKD assembly shops: the 404 was assembled, besides France and Argentina, in Australia, Belgium, Canada (at the SOMA plant shared with Renault), Chile, Ireland, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Perú, Rhodesia, South Africa, and Uruguay;[10] the 504, mainly in Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South-Africa, Australia, and China by the Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company which developed a specific crew cab version.
In 1968, the independent German automotive firm, Karmann, began assembly of CKD kits of AMC's newly introduced Javelin for distribution in Europe.
The last companies to construct CKD kits in New Zealand were Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Honda, which closed their plants in 1998 when the government announced plans to abolish import tariffs on cars.
[13] Daimler AG has a CKD assembly plant in South Carolina that re-assembles Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans for sale in the United States and Canada at Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner dealers, along with Dodge dealers before Fiat Group's takeover of Chrysler Group LLC—essentially to circumvent the 25% tariff on imported light trucks known as the "Chicken Tax".
Unlike the CKD Dodge Sprinter, the ProMaster is fully imported to the U.S. from a Chrysler plant in Mexico under of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
During the final assembly in the Netherlands, various parts are added to the car, most notably the rear subframe with the drive train as well as the battery pack.
Unfinished KD (knocked down) coach bodies are shipped from Winnipeg, Manitoba, by flatbed trailer and completed, outfitted, and delivered at Pembina.
This practice simplifies US Customs and meets the "Buy America Act" provisions (49 USC 5323(j) and 49 CFR Part 661) for public agencies purchasing new equipment with federal funds.
The practice of selling "knocked down" railcars, called by that name, pre-dates the 20th century, as evidenced by an advertisement by JG Brill Company in the Street Railway Journal from 1898.
[19] Many rail equipment builders have used kits or incomplete vehicles, often to meet local assembly and production requirements or quotas, or to satisfy tariffs.
Airbus opened a similar A320 final assembly line in the United States in September 2015, located in Mobile, Alabama; again using European-made fuselages, wings, and tail sections.
