Ayala wields the Power to Surprise
IT WAS a grand re-launch of an automotive brand that has been in the country for over a quarter of a century— and a truly fitting one for a nameplate that came from humble beginnings (remember the Kia Pride of the 90’s?).
Kia was re-launched in the Philippines in a spectacular “unboxing” event last week at the Makati Shangri-La. The brand now operates under AC Industrials, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation (AC).
AC Industrials’ acquisition of Kia Philippines (the sixth brand under its vehicle distribution/ dealership unit AC Automotive) is in line with its strategic thrust to strengthen AC Automotive’s significant presence in the local automotive market.
Established in 1944, Kia Motors Corporation (KMC) is the oldest and second largest automobile seller in South Korea, selling 2.81 million vehicles in 2018 in 185 countries through 24 sales offices and over 6,000 dealers.
Kia Motors AsiaPacific President Ted Lee noted the significance of the Philippine market to Kia’s growth: “Global Kia has been growing in the last decade as we recorded historical sales growth, enhanced our design excellence and proved our worldclass quality. I strongly hope to see what we have achieved globally in this promising market as well. For that, Kia provides competitive products and will do so continuously. To prove this, Kia decided to export the Soluto with the Philippines as the first export market. Today is the first official day to introduce this attractive model to Filipino customers.”
The roughly Vios-sized Kia Soluto comes with a 1.4-liter 95ps/132Nm Dual-CVVT petrol engine, a spacious interior, as well as a 7-inch touchscreen 6-speaker audio system with Android Auto and Apple Carplay, rearview camera and steering wheel controls with EX-exclusive features such as faux leather seats and rear parking distance warning.
The new Soluto joins familiar Kia models—the Picanto and Rio hatchbacks, the tech-laden Sportage SUV, the luxurious Sorento midsize SUV, the luxurious and spacious Grand Carnival MPV, and the workhorse K2500 light truck.
The Rio Hatchback will be offered at P920,000 (for the 1.4 LX AT) and P985,000 (for the 1.4 EX AT), and is available in Clear White, Platinum Graphite, Smoke Blue (LX AT only) and Signal Red (EX AT only). The K2500 2.5 CRDI (cab and chassis) retails at P810,000.
The re-launch of Kia in the Philippines also featured the brand’s push to capture the younger segment of the automotive market, as Kia Philippines President Manny Aligada announced that KMC would be sponsoring the World Tour of the Korean pop music all-girl supergroup BLACKPINK. Aligada also revealed that the next “unboxing” event of Kia for its next surprise would happen during the 2019 Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) in April, and then sometime in the last quarter for the third surprise for the year.
The Kia vehicles have comprehensive warranty coverage. Aside from the five years or 160,000-km general warranty, Kia Philippines also offers five years or 150,000-km warranty for anti-perforation and paint. Service parts’ warranty is one year or 20,000kms. The periodic maintenance service (PMS) interval schedule for these models is every six months, or every 5,000 kilometers, whichever comes first.
Consistent with Kia’s global mantra of “The Power to Surprise,” Kia Philippines aims to establish more dealers in strategic locations. Kia has, at present, a network of over 35 dealerships in the country. With the Kia business in the Philippines now under ACI’s wing, every Kia dealership will deliver the Kia Promise to Care Programs, which will ramp up aftersales service quality, competence, and parts availability to provide every customer an exceptional service experience.
For more info on Kia Philippines’ product line-up, log on to www.kia. com, or visit any of its dealerships nationwide.