Other than Sonet and Seltos, Kia also retails Carnival MPV which is brought in India as a CKD product
Kia Motors has enjoyed a very good run at the Indian market ever since it set foot last year. Launch of its first offering in the form of Seltos in August 2019 has been instrumental in the South Korean auto manufacturer’s success in India. It continues to grow thanks to its latest inclusion of its subcompact UV Sonet in its lineup.
As per PTI, the auto brand is now looking to widen its presence in India by expanding its dealerships to 300 touchpoints by the end of this year. The company also intends to focus on enhancing profitability of its dealer partners.
Kia Motors Next Priority in India
In an interaction with PTI, a senior company official claimed that the South Korean brand is looking to expand its retail and service network in smaller towns and rural areas in order to scale its presence in India. Kia Motors will now focus on expanding to Tier-4 and upcountry markets which will help it penetrate deeper into the Indian market.
The automaker has received an enormous demand from all parts of the country and therefore, wants to be present even in the remotest of locations. Increasing presence in such regions will not only help Kia in building brand awareness, but will also help increase sales. One of the many reasons behind Maruti and Hyundai being leading car companies in India is that they have the widest presence in terms of network, sales and aftersales.
Talking about its dealer partners, the senior Kia official said that his company also has to take into account profitability of its dealer partners. Thus, both these elements will be Kia’s key strategy for development in the next 2-3 years. He further added that the company entered India with an aim to be accessible and available for the entire nation.
Wider Network
The consumer’s proximity to a brand is one of the key factors in vehicle buying experience in India. Even before it launched its first product in India, Kia ensured that it has a wide network of 265 touch points spread across 160 cities which were the highest for any new entrant in the automotive industry. Even with the current set of retail outlets, the company has managed to create a large consumer across the country.
As of now, there are only 22 cars per 1,000 individuals in this country and India has a lot of potential to better this figure significantly. Kia has a considerable number of customers in villages and smaller towns and the company does not want them to travel miles to purchase or service their cars. Kia has also initiated several plans which would focus on customer requirements in regards to sales and aftersales.
Kia Motors has also set up dedicated skill enhancement and training centres to ensure that each and every company representative is well-equipped to address customer needs. Such training centres are run by the company in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Faridabad. The auto brand has also established a complete contactless and paperless after-sales process.
Kia Sales In India
Kia Motors retailed a total 21,022 units in November 2020 out of which its sub-4 metre compact UV Sonet accounted for 11,417 units. Seltos recorded 9,205 units of sales whereas Carnival registered sales of 400 units.
In terms of sales, Kia Motors is not very far behind Tata Motors, which has cemented its position as the No 3 car company in India for the past few months. Both, Tata as well as Kia have shown good growth in sales this year, and both have exciting new cars planned for launch in the coming years. Only time will tell if Kia can overtake Tata, or will Tata manage to stay ahead of Kia in the coming months.
