The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kia

  • KIA strikes strategic partnership with Uber

    With the growing popularity of urban culture and prevalence of hailing cab service in the metropolitan cities, Kia Motors Nigeria has entered into strategic partnership with Uber to provide lead generation software connecting riders to drivers in the area. The partnership is directly in line with the commitment to making the people become an Uber investor with an affordable state-of-the-art Kia model range.

    There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria has remained one of the commercial hubs of Africa with an estimated population of over 180 million. As the most populous African country in the world, the need to provide a seamless means of transportation system to meet the requirements of the public is germane and this has galvanised the strategic partnership between Kia and Uber.

    Globally, over 100,000 partner drivers are currently operating on Uber’s network. Uber is not only changing the way people connect with their cities, but also creating thousands of investment and work opportunities along the way.

    To make this a success in Nigeria, Uber is leveraging the low maintenance cost of Kia vehicles to increase the adoption of its services in the cities in which it has presence across the country.

    “In a bid to provide a stress-free transportation and provide investment opportunities for our teeming customers, we have deemed it necessary to partner with an internationally acclaimed technology company, Uber, which gives optimum value to customer satisfaction and a maximised return on investment for investors. The company has remained at the fore in creating a technology platform that is customer-focused,” Managing Director, Kia Motors Nigeria, Jacky Hathiramani said.

    Hathiramani added: “Uber’s technology continues to transform the way millions of people move around their city and our partnership with the company is to give people the best-in-class Kia model range that gives exhilarating experience to passengers on the go.”

    Uber is focused on building a service for hundreds of millions of Nigerians and creating investment opportunities. Premised on this, Kia’s leadership and experience in the auto industry will be crucial in helping the technological company accomplish their goals.

    As a part of the deal, interested Uber investors who do not want to make an outright purchase of the vehicle can avail the offer of an accessible financial scheme powered by Access Bank that gives 10 per cent equity contribution, competitive equated monthly instalment as low as N95,000 monthly, special pricing and flexible repayment tenure of up to 48 months.

  • Kia global sales rise in March

    Kia Motors Corporation has  announced its March 2015 global sales figures (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) for passenger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles, recording a total of 269,749 units sold. This figure represents three per cent year-on-year growth compared to the same month last year.

    In March, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in China (11.3 percent growth with 61,431 units sold), the domestic Korean market (8.5 percent growth with 42,305 units sold) and North America (7.9 percent growth with 65,426 units sold).

    Cumulatively through the first three months of this year, Kia’s global sales totalled 690,775 units for a year-on-year increase of 0.5 percent. Korea (114,512 units sold), North America (155,659 units sold) and China (166,641 units sold) have seen a 6.0 per cent, 5.8 per cent and 2.0 percent rise in sales, respectively.

    Kia’s bestselling model in overseas markets last March was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 39,934 units sold. The Sportage compact CUV was the second best seller with 38,165 units sold, while the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ or ‘K3’ in some markets), Optima D-segment sedan and mid-size Sorento CUV followed with 35,698, 22,479 and 19,060 units sold, respectively.

    Meanwhile, Kia Motors Nigeria has announced a new partnership with Class Motors Limited in Warri, Delta State to further expand its market and ease access to customers in the country.

    KIA has continued to keep pace with consumers’ evolving wants and needs to remain competitive. The shifting consumer interests and the need to meet their expectations with exceptional service delivery propelled the automobile firm to sign the dealership agreement.

    Speaking on the partnership, Kia Motors Nigeria Assistant Vice President, Mr Sanjay Tatpati, said: “This joint venture with Class Motors is an important step in our expansion plans for the Nigerian market. Finding the right partners to work with in satisfying our customers is very vital to us. We are delighted to work with the experienced team of Class Motors and are confident that our customers and automobile enthusiasts will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this relationship.”

    Mr Ben Edoja, Managing Director, Class Motors Limited, said, “Our relationship with Kia Motors Nigeria is in furtherance of our corporate mission to provide customers with quality vehicles and services. We constantly seek ways to exceed our customers’ expectations and we believe this partnership will give us the opportunity to do just that.”

    Edoja said the new Kia franchisee will offer full range of Kia vehicles, from the Kia Picanto to the Kia Quoris, wherein the customers will have ease of access and buy their preferred Kia cars.

  • Kia posts February global sales

    Kia Motors Corporation announced its February 2015 global sales figures (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) for passenger cars, recreational vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles, recording a total of 208,700 units sold. This figure represents 0.0 per cent year-on-year growth compared to the same month of 2014.

    In February, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in North America (5.8 per cent growth with 48, 230 units sold), China (3.3 per cent growth with 47,211 units sold) and the domestic Korean market (1.2 per cent growth with 35,405 units sold). Cumulatively through the first two months of 2015, Kia’s global sales totalled 420,891 units for a year-on-year decrease of 1.0 per cent. North America (90,233 units sold) and Korea (72,072 units sold) have seen a 4.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent rise in sales, respectively.

    Kia’s bestselling model in overseas markets during February 2015 was the B-segment Rio (known as ‘K2’ in China) with 32,719 units sold. The C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Forte’ or ‘K3’ in some markets) was the second best seller with 28,711 units sold, while the Sportage compact CUV, Optima D-segment sedan and mid-size Sorento CUV followed with 27,128, 17,721 and 14,280 units sold, respectively.

  • Kia to showcase dual-clutch transmission

    Kia has announced application of the all-new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) to the production of the new Kia cee’d GT Line – which makes its global debut at the 85th Salon International de l’Automobile in Geneva tomorrow.

    The new DCT will be paired with the cee’d GT Line’s 133 ps 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine. Capable of handling larger torque outputs than Kia’s existing six-speed torque converter automatic (up to 300 Nm), the DCT’s fast-shifting nature is ideally suited to the new cee’d GT Line’s sporty image.

    Drivers will benefit from faster gear changes than a traditional torque converter automatic transmission, as well as lower running costs. It is anticipated that the new DCT will offer lower emissions and higher fuel economy, pending European homologation tests later in the year. It will be made available on a wider range of Kia models in the future.

    The new transmission is the first of its type from the brand, and has been developed in-house by Kia’s research and development teams at its Namyang, Korea R&D centre.

    The new DCT has been engineered with low fuel consumption and a sporty driving feel when in manual mode, and with comfort and smoothness when left in automatic mode.

    Throughout its development, Kia’s R&D teams targeted a three to five per cent improvement in acceleration (0 to 100 kph) and five to seven per cent improvement to fuel efficiency, depending on model.

    The DCT is made up of two dry clutches, each fitted with electric motor-driven clutch actuator to improve responsiveness, and an innovative hollow double-gear input shaft. The hollow shaft itself allows the system to quickly engage even gears, while a solid shaft that runs through the middle operates odd gears. This crossed gear shifting enables continuous power delivery and more efficient packaging, two development cornerstones for the engineering teams behind the project.

  • KIA wins Customer Service Award

    KIA wins Customer Service Award

    KIA Motors Nigeria has been awarded the prestigious Nigeria Customer Service Award (NCSA) in the automobile category. This year’s edition of the ceremony, sponsored by Heritage Bank was held at the Ibeto Hotel in Abuja and chaired by Senator Umaru Dahiru, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Human and Legal Rights.

    NCSA Coordinator Aliyu Ilias said the awards were aimed at celebrating service excellence in the country.

    He said: “We encourage Nigerian companies to go beyond paying lip-service and eye-service to customers because the customer deserve better.

    “We also preach that dealing fairly with the customer is both rewarding to the organisation as it is to the customer, and that is why we promote and project such hard working organisations that excel in the business of fulfilling customer service delivery.”

    The awards, he added, were designed to celebrate customer service delivery excellence and create the consciousness among corporate business owners in Nigeria to go beyond paying lip service to customer service by establishing a closer connection with customers in view of the long term benefits for their entities and the nation’s economy

    Reacting to the award, Chief Commercial Officer, Kia Motors Nigeria, Mr Sandeep Malhotra, said: “The award portrays the well-defined operating strategy, commitment and adherence to values that include discipline, passion for excellence and a service focused culture of our employees to give exceptional service to our esteemed customers”.

    The award categories cut across 27 sectors of the economy including banking and finance, telecommunication, media, hospitality, transport, real estate, oil and gas, automobiles, aviation and others.

    A total of 37 companies were awarded the Nigeria Customer Service Award.

  • Kia unveils locally assembled Rio

    Kia unveils locally assembled Rio

    KIA Motors Nigeria has unveiled its Made-in-Nigeria vehicles at the just concluded Abuja International Auto Fair at the Eagle Square in Abuja with N1.98 milion price tag.

    Delivering to its brand slogan of “The Power to Surprise,” the auto giant said the unveiling is in fulfillment of the promise made to Nigerians that the locally assembled KIA will be available before the end of the year.

    The Made-in-Nigeria KIA vehicles, which included the Rio, Cerato and Optima were unveiled by Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide.

    Oloye Akinjide, who later had a test drive of the Optima, expressed joy and congratulated KIA Motors for the feat.

    She described the car as “the People’s Car”.

    Upon exiting the car after the test drive, the Minister said “Wow, Beautiful ride, Very smooth…..this is a Great Car” and she was thrilled with admiration for the KIA SOUL by saying the model is “incredibly built to complement the youth and the women”.

    The flagship model of Kia, the Quoris also caught the flair of the minister when she was shown around the luxury sedan by Mr. Sandeep Malhotra.

    The stylish compact Rio, Optima and Cerato with thoroughly contemporary and distinctive styling, coupled with maximum versatility and cutting-edge safety and convenience features are truly innovative cars.

    KIA staying true to its commitments offers full style and curvaceous elegance that perfectly captures the glamour of the present. The award-winning cars are engineered and designed to be an expression of individuality. Loaded with smart technologies, generous levels of convenience and safety equipment, they are as dependable and practical as they are desirable and distinctive.

  • Kia partners FCMB on finance scheme

    Kia partners FCMB on finance scheme

    KIA Motors has signed agreement with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to offer an auto loan to interested buyers.

    With this partnership, KIA Motors Nigeria and FCMB are looking forward to developing financing options that will help customers own KIA brand from as low as N47,400 monthly repayment plan. The customers are presented with flexible payment plan options, free insurance, FCMB goody bag, and free vehicle registration. Weaved into the scheme is the standard five year warranty on all KIA vehicles.

    Speaking at the media launch, the Deputy Marketing Manager, KIA Motors Nigeria, Peter Ayewoh said “the alliance with FCMB has gone through a rigorous perusal aiming at giving the very best in auto financing scheme to customers.”

    He noted that the scheme will strengthen KIA’s foothold in the country and consolidate its leadership position in the automobile retail industry.

    Executive Director, Lagos and South West, FCMB, Mr Olufemi Bakre explained that the partnership was borne out of an alliance between the two institutions.

    “FCMB has been a well acclaimed industry leader in consumer loan offering and this finance scheme is a viable alliance aimed at furthering the frontiers of delivering an exceptional customer experience,” he said.

  • Kia expands ‘Green Light Project’

    Kia expands ‘Green Light Project’

    Kia Motors Corporation has announced the expansion of its global corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, the ‘Green Light Project’, during celebrations for the grand opening of a new Green Light School in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe.

    Kia’s Green Light Project – a global social mobility programme started by the corporation in 2012 – strives to improve access to healthcare and education for disadvantaged children in some of the poorest regions in the world, hoping to help them turn around their lives from ‘red light’ to ‘green light’. At present, the programme is working with local people on projects in three neighbouring South Eastern African countries – Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.

    In Lilongwe, the new secondary school’s opening ceremony was attended by more than 1,000 local residents and a host of dignitaries, including Malawi’s Congressman, principal education officer, and Mr. Rev Kang, representative of MFHI (Malawi Food for the Hungry International). Also present were key Kia executives behind the Green Light Project, including Mr Chang-Muk Choi, Kia Motors Corporation’s Head of CSR Management Team.

    Choi said: “The global Green Light Project which has helped to create the new school we are opening in Malawi, adopts all of Kia’s corporate social responsibility values. Here in this poorer district of Lilongwe, the majority of the residents receive little medical care and secondary school enrollment rate is under 30 percent.

    “Kia views people around the world as ‘one family’ and the programme aims to provide local communities with the means to ensure that young people can achieve independence and build better lives in future. Looking forward, Kia is planning to expand the Green Light Project to other countries and regions through the cooperation of its global network.”

    As well as investing in the construction of the Lilongwe educational facility, Kia plans to support the students and members of the local community by operating after-school programs for a further five years.

    In addition to Kia Motors’ construction of a secondary school and the donation of Kia K2700 trucks in Nagashanqui, Tanzania in 2012, Kia has funded the construction of a secondary school in Mozambique and several health clinics in Malawi. Kia plans to continue its investment in its Green Light Project until 2018, making a total investment of $14 million in the project.

  • Kia to build $1b plant in Mexico

    Kia Motors Corporation has signed an investment deal with the Mexican government to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Monterrey, northeastern state of Nuevo León.

    The signing held at the Technological Museum of the Electricity Federal Commission (MUTEC) in Mexico City. It was attended by top executives of Kia Motors, led by Hyoung-Keun (Hank) Lee, Vice Chairman of Kia Motors Corp.

    Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto,  and Governor, State of Nuevo León, Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz also attended .

    Construction on the Kia Motors Mexico plant is scheduled to begin  this month. When completed in the first half of 2016, it will boast of  a yearly production capacity of 300,000 vehicles, thereby boosting Kia’s total global manufacturing capacity to 3.37 million vehicles, including 1.69 million vehicles at domestic Korean plants and 1.68 million at overseas plants. Kia plans to produce a range of yet-to-be confirmed compact models at the new plant.

    Representing an investment of about US$1billion by Kia Motors, the new, highly automated manufacturing plant will be situated on a 500-hectare (53.8 million square foot) site that will also be home to numerous supplier companies’ facilities.

    As one of the world’s fastest growing automakers, Kia Motors has been evaluating various options for entering new overseas markets to secure future growth for the brand. With its strong growth forecasts for new vehicle demand, Mexico was chosen as the site for Kia’s next overseas plant given that it is one of the few remaining major markets of the world in which Kia does not have a sales presence.

    For Korean automakers to competitively enter the Mexican market, the establishment of local production facilities is pivotal as Mexico imposes high tariffs on imported cars from Korea. Moreover, Mexico is well-known for its skilled, low-cost labour force and numerous free trade agreements (such as NAFTA) with about 40 countries.

    Meanwhile, Kia expects the Mexico plant to play a major role in alleviating global supply issues thanks to its strategic geographic location. Namely, its proximity to the USA will enable the company to better address the ongoing supply shortage situation that has arisen due to the dramatic growth of the Kia brand in the US market. Furthermore, Kia plans to utilise the plant as a foundation for strengthening the brand’s sales presence throughout the entire Central and South America region while freeing up supply from Kia’s domestic plants to address supply shortage issues in other regions of the world.

    Lee said: “All of us at Kia Motors are proud to signal in a new era for the brand with the announcement of our first manufacturing plant in Mexico. We are committed to producing world-class quality vehicles here in Mexico that feature industry-leading styling and high-tech convenience and safety features that customers have come to expect from Kia, while making significant contributions to both the economic growth of the State of Nuevo León and the future development of the Mexican automotive industry.”

  • Delphine Okoronkwo rocks her world

    Delphine Okoronkwo rocks her world

    IN her late 20s, Delphine Onyii Okoronkwo, came into public consciousness few months ago with the launch of her brand new Kia Carens car said to be worth over N8million. It was rumoured that the car was bought for her by the flamboyant Pastor Kris Okotie, which he had vehemently denied through his publicist. Well, the delectable lady continues to mingle with the high and the mighty.