Kia Motors set to announce India plans soon

Kia Motors, the South Korean automobile manufacturer, is one of the last few big, global brands that are yet to make a foray into India. The rumour mill has been churning out claims that the company has already located the site for a possible manufacturing facility in India and that its formal entry into the market here is imminent.

Last week, however, I had the opportunity to interact firsthand with key officials from Kia Motors during a media round table that had been organised by the company at its headquarters in Seoul. The intent of the meeting was clearly to try and understand the layout and potential of the Indian passenger car market from the bunch of media representatives who had been invited to also get a peek into the world of Kia. The company continues to maintain that "as of now no concrete plans have been finalised for Kia's entry into India". But, from all other perspectives, it does seem like Kia is an advanced state of preparedness to announce its foray here. Expect an announcement within the next few months.

Though Kia Motors is often identified as the sister brand of Hyundai, it is actually the older of the two in terms of its history of manufacturing automobiles. As a subsidiary of Hyundai, Kia is the second largest automobile manufacturer in South Korea. Its sales worldwide totalled over 3.3 million vehicles in 2015. The company owes a lot of its growth in sales to the successes it has had in the key mature markets of Europe and the US, with cars like the Picanto, Soul and Optima. Kia has had a remarkable turnaround in buyer acceptance during the last few years after it won high ratings consecutively for the reliability and safety of its cars. It has also found more takers amongst young buyers who have appreciated Kia’s new design philosophy. The current unified design language for Kia was scripted by its Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, who was also responsible for the brand’s unique, signature bonnet grille called the Tiger’s Nose.

Kia’s vehicles share their platforms with Hyundai's models. So, often the chassis, engine and transmissions are identical. But, between the brands, the cars themselves look and feel different inside-out. Kia is currently the lesser known brand in the market here, much like Hyundai was when it first entered India. But the fact the two are sister brands could be a bit tricky if the duo don't work out a strategy to be identified as unique, independent brands in the buyer's mind. But it is to Kia's advantage that its models are not badge engineered twins like some of Renault-Nissan's cars were. Though Kia's models like the Picanto, Rio, Sportage and the Sorento share their platforms with Hyundai's cars, they look and feel very different from each other.

Also, though some of Kia's models are priced lower, the brand's positioning is focused on attracting a younger audience. Its dealership's design and layout, promos and other communications leverage the signature red and white colour scheme from its logo to emphasise the young, performance orientation of the brand.

Kia's expertise in developing models from the same platform, but which look very different, will be key for quickly building its brand recall and uniqueness in the Indian context. There is no question about whether Kia's cars will compete with similar models from Hyundai. But, Kia's cars will also have the power to expand the market.

I think Kia should adopt a mid-size to small car strategy where it starts with a model in the sub-₹20 lakh price segment and goes down to the premium entry small car segment. While company officials were tight-lipped about the specifics, the visit to Kia's R&D centre did provide some idea about the capabilities that the brand possesses.

While in Seoul, I also got to test drive a few of Kia's models. Here are brief profiles of three of them.

The Sportage is one of the most popular and visible vehicles from Kia's portfolio that one gets to see on American roads. The new Sportage's is an aggressive and refined crossover design that really takes the fight to similar sized models from European brands. It shares its platform with the Hyundai Tucson. In fact, in addition to the chassis, the Sportage also features the same two-litre petrol and two-litre diesel engines from the Tucson in many markets, and often in the same state of tune. One of the other engines on offer is the 2.4-litre GDI petrol engine.

In keeping with its performance image, the 2016 Sportage's interior is also more driver focused with more features that will appeal to younger buyers. On the track, the Sportage feels refined and the cabin feels modern and very European with its all-black theme.

The Niro is compact hybrid utility vehicle that was designed by Peter Schreyer. Related to the Hyundai Ioniq, the Niro features an all-new hybrid powertrain and could feature a plug-in hybrid version in the future. It was only just introduced for the current model year and started selling in the South Korean market earlier this year.

The hybrid (electric-petrol) powertrain produces 146hp of power and delivers a mileage of 4.7litres per 100kms. The USP of the Niro is its attractive, but conventional car design unlike other hybrids which sacrifice looks for aerodynamic efficiency. The Niro is positioned below the Sportage. It is a parallel hybrid and that shows in the way the Niro accelerates on the test track. With no evident compromise in performance, the Niro hardly feels like a hybrid. Kia may consider the Niro for the Indian market a few years after its entry.

The Soul was one of the most surprising success stories for Kia in the US. Built on the i20 platform, this compact crossover, looks more like a large hatch. With its funky looks and catchy advertising, the Soul captured the imagination of young buyers in the American market. Its floating roof concept and the first interpretation of the Tiger's nose grille made the Soul instantly recognisable. It was designed at Kia's design centre in California.

The Soul's popularity also grew thanks to its famous Hamsters advertisements. Two years ago, Kia started selling an all-electric Soul EV in the North American and European markets. The Soul is a signature model from Kia and it feels like a lifestyle vehicle designed to reflect the tastes of its young target audience. However, it also unfortunately seems like an expensive platform and could potentially pose a pricing challenge if it is brought to India.