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New models...more innovation...and renewed Australian growth with a new importer
Kia will offer a unique
combination of innovative models that open new market sectors and bring
products into new price sectors in 2000 with a new importer set to launch up to
six new models during the year.
The Korean car maker has
already established its value for money credentials over the past three years
and at the end of 1999 it proved with the Carnival people mover that it could
provide previously inaccessible types of vehicle at new price points. This year
Kia will bring an entirely new type of car to Australia, the small people
mover, in the shape of Carens. And, just as the Carnival is $15,000 less than
its rivals, the Carens is set to be up to $10,000 less than the other six seat people movers that will follow in
its wake.
"Product and
market innovation has previously been the reserve of expensive marques that
make their customers pay for the risk factor traditionally involved with
innovation," says Ric Hull, the Managing Director of Kia Automotive Australia,
the car maker's new Australian importer. "Kia, though has used the value for
money skills honed with its main market products to produce products that are
as innovative as any produced around the world. This means that for the first
time thousands of Australian car buyers will have access to new designs that
have previously been out of reach or just not available at all."
In addition to launching
new models into the Kia range in Australia, Kia Automotive Australia has
revised the existing model line-up to focus on the top selling versions and
simplify the range in preparation for the arrival of all the new models.
A wholly owned division
of Sydney-based Ateco Automotive Australia, Kia Automotive Australia took up
the reins for Kia on 1 March 2000. The new importer has the linked targets of
increasing awareness of Kia products nationally and, thereby, boosting sales.
With arrival of the Kia
Rio on 1 July 2000, Kia Automotive Australia plans to take sales to 1500 a
month.
The first step in this growth is to make
revisions to the existing range. For example, pending the arrival of the Rio,
Kia's entry level model is the Shuma liftback, which replaces the Mentor. This
revised model retains sub-$20,000 pricing, but will now only be available with
the 1.8 litre engine, thus separating it from both the Rio and 2.0 litre Credos
above it in the range.
Kia's off-road model,
the Sportage, has been revised by taking the wagon version from the existing
Korean range. Instantly recognizable from its longer tail, the new Sportage
offers not just better balanced styling, but a larger boot and easier rear
access with the spare wheel now stowed under the body. Changes to the hot
selling Carnival are minimal and involve on-going trim revisions including the
addition of an airbag and CD to the manual version.
Leaving aside the
revised Sportage, the first new model to arrive in Australia will be the
Carans, an innovative small people mover that with its combination of six seats
and a low $20s price will provide Australians with a new transport choice.
The Carens will be
followed on 1 July by the Kia Rio, a five door hatch and four door sedan, with
above class average performance, equipment and style. It will arrive in the market at
a price point where the choice has been limited to three door sparsely equipped
models. With other models still on the secret list, the only other models Kia
Automotive Australia is prepared to speculate about is the arrival in time for
the summer of 2000/2001 is the Sportage soft top.
The investment being
made by Kia Automotive Australia and its parent Ateco Automotive to grow sales
in Australia is considerably more substantial than a revised model range and
new model debuts.
The Kia dealer group
will expand substantially during the coming months, with numbers increasing to
just over 100 across Australia. This will improve customer service at two
levels. First by making access to Kia dealers for both sales and service
easier. Second it will also mean that, with a considerable investment in dealer
facilities, the quality of service offered by all Kia dealers will improve.
This is being supported by a multi-million dollar investment by Ateco in its
own facilities in Sydney, as well as new regional offices in Melbourne,
Brisbane and in Perth.
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