Conscious decision to regularly refresh existing product portfolio, says Brar
South Korea’s Kia has relaunched its brand in India with a focus on illuminating its transition from an automaker to a provider of advanced and eco-friendly mobility solutions.
Kia India, which is wholly owned by Kia Corporation, introduced the company’s refashioned logo and brand slogan, “Movement that inspires”, and made India the first country outside South Korea to celebrate the brand relaunch.
The versatile compact SUV Seltos and the subcompact crossover SUV Sonet, both of which are updated for the Indian market under the newly stylized logo, will be unveiled to the market in the first week of May, 2021.
During the brand showcase, Kookhyun Shim, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Kia India, unveiled the refreshed Seltos with the new Kia logo.
Signalling the bold transition, the company name has changed from Kia Motors India to Kia India, dropping “Motors,” which symbolizes Kia becoming an enterprise that invests in and produces more than just vehicles to offer a long range of sustainable mobility solutions.
In the Indian context, the brand slogan “Movement that inspires” represents Kia’s ambitious plans for leading the future mobility revolution in the country with premium products equipped with unique design and segment-first features, advanced digitized services complemented by one of the largest networks by any new entrant brand in the country, said Kia India in a statement on 28 April 2021.
In line with the change, Kia India also intends to attain full capacity utilization of its state-of-art manufacturing facility in Anantapur in a move to facilitate faster production and delivery of its vehicles.
‘Movement that Inspires’ is at the heart of Kia’s new brand purpose of inspiring consumers through products, services, and their experiences with the brand. Kia’s new brand slogan emphasizes that movement is at the genesis of human development. It enables people to see new places, to meet new people, and to have new experiences.
This connection is the essence of Kia’s new brand slogan, to enable human progress by providing innovative in-car spaces, exciting new products, and meaningful, convenient services that inspire customers and free up time for the activities that they enjoy the most.
The new logo of Kia is a symbol of the new brand slogan and values it promises to offer customers through future products, services, and the experiences these enable. Kia seals its brand promise by developing the new logo to resemble a handwritten signature.
The rhythmical, unbroken line of the logo conveys Kia’s commitment to bringing moments of inspiration, while its symmetry demonstrates confidence. The rising gestures of the logo embody Kia’s rising ambitions for the brand, and, more importantly, what it offers to the customers.
On the occasion, Shim said, “This is a proud and historic moment for us as India becomes the first country to transition to the new brand identity after our headquarters in South Korea. Our decision to increase the production capacity stems from our deep customer understanding where a faster delivery of our products can enhance their buying experience tremendously.
“We are confident that this transformation will accelerate our growth by not only strengthening our premium positioning in the market but also making us one of the most aspirational brands for consumers.”
As part of India’s growth strategy with the new identity, Kia will be constantly innovating to match the ever-changing needs of the new-age consumers. The upcoming refreshed versions of its flagship and best-selling products, the versatile compact SUV Seltos and the subcompact crossover SUV Sonet, will be a testament to this commitment.
Kia is also looking at sustaining its connected cars leadership by adding new features. To strengthen its reach, Kia is expanding its strong network to 360 touch points covering 218 cities including tier-3 and select tier-4 towns by the end of this year.
“Under the new brand slogan, Kia will focus on offering meaningful experiences to the customers, especially focused on the millennials and Gen-Z – the future of the country,”
said Tae-Jin Park, Executive Director and Chief Sales and Business Strategy Officer, Kia India.
“With Kia’s new brand identity and our refreshed portfolio, we are extremely elated to have a purpose-driven business that will elevate the customer experience not just in terms of the features and connectivity inside the cars, but the overall engagement experience with our brand.”
“Kia is a futuristic brand and always on the move to be as close as possible to our consumers. We feel that regular product interventions and increasing brand accessibility are some of the key areas, which will help us in meeting this objective,” added Hardeep Singh Brar, Vice President & Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia India.
“Hence, we are taking a conscious decision to regularly refresh our existing product portfolio, launch new products at regular intervals and foray into newer markets to provide an aspirational experience to consumers who are keen on becoming proud Kia owners.”
Being India’s young automobile disruptor, Kia India has set an example of many firsts in the automobile industry and has achieved several milestones in a very short period of time. The brand has created new product segments and leveraged technology to create segment first innovations across its entire product portfolio to address the evolving customer needs.
Kia led the adoption of connected car technology in India, and today the brand is the connected SUV leader in the country. In over one and a half years of sales operation in India, Kia has emerged as the 4th most sold car brand and the fastest carmaker to achieve 2,50,000 sales figures in the country. Kia also aims at offering cutting-edge features with multiple trim choices for its customers. 60% of Kia’s sales come from top variants of Seltos, Carnival, and Sonet, which highlights Kia’s commitment to offer the best features to Indian customers at attractive prices. Kia has emerged as a household name in India with advanced technology and bold design offerings.
In April 2017, Kia India signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh to build a new manufacturing facility at Anantapur District. Kia commenced mass production in August 2019 and has an annual production capacity of approximately 300,000 units. In April 2021, Kia India reimagined itself in line with its new brand identity, “Movement that Inspires” aimed at offering customers meaningful experiences backed by innovative products and services.
Kia Corporation is a global mobility brand with a vision to create sustainable mobility solutions for consumers, communities, and societies around the world. Founded in 1944, Kia has been providing mobility solutions for more than 75 years. #manufacturing #investment #technology #makeinIndia /fiinews.com
