Kia Canada: New products, new image, benchmark quality
In just 18 short years, Kia Canada has certainly placed its mark on the Canadian automotive landscape.
And, to say the least, 2017 has been an exciting year for Kia Canada! Our brand is ever expanding with new dealership locations, new and exciting corporate partnerships, and all-new models with advanced quality, powertrains and state-of-the-art technology features. All these factors are enabling us to increase our annual sales volume and foster great brand loyalty from our new and current customer base.
As of Sept. 1, we were able to achieve 51,932 units sold, which relates to a 4.8 per cent year-overyear increase. This increase has been, for the most part, a common trend for our company since our humble beginnings in 1999. With over 833,000 units sold in our first 18 years of operation, it truly makes us Canada’s fastest growing car manufacturer.
On the retail side of our operations our dealer network has increased to 190 stores, many of which will be adopting our new global Red Cube image, a fresh hallmark design for our dealerships. Several of our dealers have grown significantly over the past few years, and Red Cube will certainly help further expand their business into the future.
The new Red Cube standards include large glass frontage with striking red exterior panels, bright and airy showrooms, enclosed service drive-thru and new-car delivery areas for enhanced customer experience. We expect to have 50 per cent of our dealerships updated to the new Red Cube look by 2020; this is one of our focus points moving forward.
On the product side of our operation, we began the year on an overwhelmingly positive note with the global premier of our all-new Kia Stinger GT at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show.
Available at Canadian dealerships nationwide by the end of the year, this Gran Turismo inspired sedan is anticipated to propel our brand forward with its high performance, luxury amenities and head-turning design. We also experienced a very successful launch this past spring with our all-new Niro Hybrid Crossover, Kia’s first dedicated hybrid platform, which has received overwhelming praise from our customers. I should also mention that the Niro set a Guinness World Record for lowest consumption by a hybrid vehicle, travelling 5,979 kilometres from Los Angeles to New York City using only 4.1 tanks of gas. To further complement our current Niro Hybrid, we plan to launch the plug-in hybrid version of the vehicle in the second half of 2018.
This past August, we have also entered a new realm of vehicle telematics, launching our new UVO Intelligence in-vehicle services. UVO Intelligence, launched this year in our all-new Rio and Optima, offers wireless technologies including safety, security and comfort services, things such as emergency roadside assistance, automatic collision notification, remote start, climate control, local search, remote door lock/ unlock, maintenance alerts and on-demand diagnostics. This new system enables owners to access vehicle information and functions remotely from the convenience of an app on their mobile devices from anywhere in the world.
The year 2017 also showed the world that our four-year US$73billion investment in global research and development is now paying off. These aggressive efforts have translated into world-class products which are now of benchmark quality. After being the first non-premium brand in 27 years to do so last year, we at Kia are very proud to once again be recognized as the top nameplate in J.D. Power’s annual Initial Quality Study for the second consecutive year — the first time a non-premium brand has achieved the feat. Our industry-leading results were driven by five segment awards, the most of any manufacturer. This list includes the Soul (Compact MultiPurpose Vehicle), Forte (Compact Car), Cadenza (Large Car), Niro (Small SUV) and Sorento (Midsize SUV).
Looking at our partnerships updates for 2017, we have proudly and enthusiastically joined Special Olympics Canada with a multiyear pledge of support as official national automotive partner. Our company and our employees are thrilled to be partner with an organization that does so much to ensure that Canadians with intellectual disabilities are able to feel part of a community, improve their health and fitness, build their selfesteem and to develop other life skills. It’s all about confidence, acceptance and inclusion.
I am very proud as vice-president and COO of such a wonderful organization. It has been an incredibly rewarding year thus far for Kia Canada, and with the determination and perseverance of our more than 160 corporate employees, our dealership network and proud partners, I am very confident that our upward momentum will continue its current trajectory.