‘Kia in India will be successful’

Last month, Kia Motor of South Korea announced it was entering the India market with an investment of $1.1 billion at a manufacturing site in Andhra Pradesh, slated to begin producing in 2019. HAN WOO PARK, president at the Seoul-headquartered entity, to Ajay Modi in an e-mailed interaction. Edited excerpts: that the company is doing a feasibility study for vehicles including SUV and sedan. Park, who spent three years as MD&CEO of Hyundai (Kia’s parent company) in India, said it will focus on a differentiated brand positioning and strong aftersales to gain volumes in the world’s fifth biggest car market. What convinced Kia that this was the right time for India entry? The Indian market is expanding rapidly, presenting us with an opportunity for sustained growth. The infrastructure in India sup- ports car manufacturing and will develop and expand further. We have been busy in recent years on establishing a strong manufacturing presence in the strategic markets of China, Europe, USA and Mexico. Now that we have succeeded in doing so, we view India as the next untapped market with a huge potential. How does the company perceive the competition and domination from the top two-three players here? Does it make things more challenging? We believe differentiated brand positioning, along with differentiated products, is key to success, especially during the initial sales phase. However, our study into the Indian market is still ongoing and it is a bit early to announce our entry strategy at this point. We are confident that our comprehensive preparation and execution strategy will result in a successful launch of the Kia brand in India. Why has the company decided to start with a compact sedan and a compact SUV? Does it not find the entry segment here attractive enough? We are still carrying out a feasibility study into a number of vehicles for production, including a compact SUV and compact sedan. We are still in the process of detailed planning for the India plant and will announce the details in due course. A number of overseas players here have made India an export base, including Hyundai. Has Kia not considered this possibility? We are mainly focused on the local Indian market, with dedicated cars for Indian customers. We have not determined plans for exports at the current time. What synergy will Kia draw from the presence of Hyundai (though separate entities, the latter owns a third of the former's equity) in India? How will the two brands compete here? There is potential for Kia to benefit from the existing infrastructure and logistics established by Hyundai. Hyundai’s Chennai plant is 390 km away from the location of our new Anantapur site. This proximity between the two facilities will benefit both of us, in terms of logistics and scale of economy. What sales and service network is being envisaged? The numbers and locations of Kia dealers will strongly depend on our sales targets, to be communicated later. We will announce our plans for an Indian dealer network in the near future; we will focus on major cities during the launch phase. We are also aiming to provide the best after-sales experience and will continue to review the best warranty conditions. India has seen lot of activism against diesel vehicles. Given this background, how will you plan production? We will continue to study market demand, to satisfy Indian consumers.