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Showing posts with label KIA. Show all posts

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Kia Wins “Best of Best” for Overall Design in German Contest

Kia walked away with no less than four awards from the inaugural Automotive Brand Contest organized by the German Design Council. The most important was that of “Best of Best” for overall brand design, acknowledging Kia’s new styling language.

The other three awards were won in the Exterior category by the latest Sportage, the Optima sedan and the new Rio.

The Truth About the Relationship Between Hyundai and Kia

Hyundai and Kia have a strange, symbiotic relationship. They share factories, parts as well as engineering knowhow and product testing duties. And yet they remain separate entities with their own marketing, distribution and styling departments.

Michael Sprague, Kia’s VP for marketing and communication describes their relationships to the New York Times likes this:

“Kia Motors America operates as a completely separate sales, marketing and distribution organization in the United States. [Hyundai and Kia share engineering efficiencies] similar in many ways to other global automakers.”

GM Agrees to Pay Korean Workers a Record Bonus of $6,140 Each and Increase Basic Salaries by 4.7%!

The South Korean division of General Motors has agreed to a record bonus payment for its employees following a partial strike last week. This was the first organized union strike to hit GM Korea in three years and it led to a production loss of 9,700 units.

The agreement between GM Korea and the union includes a raise of basic salaries by 4.7% and, more importantly, a $6,140 (6.5 million won) bonus to each worker.

Rumors: Kia to Unveil V8 RWD Sports Car Concept at Frankfurt Motor Show

During the past few years, Kia has completely transformed its image from a manufacturer of affordable, but rather unexceptional, cars to that of an automaker that offers a stylish and coherent range, thanks in no small part to the hiring of ex-VW Group designer Peter Schreyer. Now, however, it is moving in uncharted waters if a recent report from What Car is accurate. Read more »

Friday, July 1, 2011

Kia Hooks its Belgium CEO up to a Lie Detector to Dispel Doubts About 7 Year Warranty

If there’s one thing South Korea’s Kia does better than any other automaker, it is offering especially long warranties. In Belgium, for instance, the warranties across their entire range of vehicles extend to seven years.

That’s no mean feat, though intriguingly Kia Belgium have found that a lot of new car buyers believe the seven year warranty scheme is too good to be true. Either there’s a catch, or it doesn’t cover all Kia models, or there’s some extra charges that need to be paid first.

To counteract these rumours, and gain some additional customers, Kia Belgium hooked its General Manager Benoit Morrene up to a polygraph (lie detector) and let the general public ask him questions in an online, streamlining environment.

Kia Celebrates 20 Years in the UK

Today, June 30, Kia celebrates the 20th anniversary since it sold its first ever car in the UK. In 1991, the small hatchback Pride was the only Kia model on sale in Britain and in that year, the company managed to sell just only 1,786 cars.

However, two decades is a very long time in the automotive industry. Since then Kia has changed remarkably on its way to become an important player on a global scale. In 2010, Kia sold a record 56,114 cars in the UK and, for the first time ever, more than 2 million units worldwide.

Argentina Agrees to Allow Hyundai and Kia Imports for Peanuts – Literally…

Argentina’s exports for imports saga continues, with South Korean carmaker Hyundai agreeing to export peanuts, wine, biodiesel and soy flour to offset the US$91 million (€64 million) it added to Argentina’s growing trade deficit in 2010. Partner company / subsidiary Kia has agreed export white goods and plastics for their contribution.

The South American nation’s US$6 billion (€4.19 billion) trade deficit has already led to one Porsche distributor agreeing to export wine and olive products, while similar deals have been struck with carmakers Chery, GM, Peugeot-Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Fiat and Ford.

Kia Reunites Joyride Characters for New 2012 Sorento Ad

Though not as successful as their music-loving hamster counterparts, Kia’s oddball cast of life-size children's characters from last year’s Joyride commercials are back for a new advertising campaign.

Muno, Sock Monkey, MR. X, the vintage robot and teddy bear will star in two new 30-second TV spots for the 2012 Sorento CUV. As with the original campaign, "Joyride 2" was created by David&Goliath, KMA's advertising agency of choice. The first commercial begins airing today and will be followed up by the second spot next month.