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Kia plans rear-drive BRZ/FR-S-fighting sports car

Kia is apparently working on a two-seat, rear-wheel drive sports car to rival the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S twins. The Korean carmaker has done a lot to revamp its image.

Granted, the potential Kia sports car isn’t coming anytime soon. Designers have just begun working on it, England’s What Car? reports.

“We have made a model of an affordable, two-seat, rear-wheel-drive coupe,” Kia designer Tom Kearns told What Car?.

Since they debuted last year, the BRZ and FR-S have been the darlings of the car world because of their simplicity and focus on driving fun. By co-opting the popularity of these cars (and the equally petite Mazda Miata roadster) Kia could find a profitable niche and there could be other benefits as well.

A small, two-seat Kia coupe would perfectly complement parent company Hyundai’s four-seat Genesis Coupe. The choice of two sizes of rear-wheel drive sports coupe would make for a dynamic duo unmatched by any other mainstream carmaker.

It would also add some fun to Kia’s competent but serious lineup. With the exception of the fabulously frivolous Soul, Kia doesn’t really take on projects that won’t win it plaudits in the pages of Consumer Reports.

Right now, Kia builds some of the best looking cars on the road, and they’re faultlessly reliable to boot

A Kia BRZ/FR-S competitor would give the brand an air of sportiness, and it would give enthusiasts another choice for their next drift car. Maybe, in the process, some of that sportiness will rub off on Kia’s other products, too.

Courtesy of DigitalTrends.com.

Kia Partners With Univision For Reality Show

Kia Motors America, in its ongoing effort to shift from being seen as a low-cost "rational" brand to a more emotionally driven "fun" brand, has signed on with Univision. The partnership is around the beauty pageant reality show, "Nuestra Belleza Latina," of which Kia will be the official automotive partner.

Besides a season-long, on-air brand integration with the show, there will be digital activations that include sponsored challenges for the show's contestants using various Kia vehicles, with season winner getting the redesigned 2014 Forte compact sedan.

Michael Sprague, who last June was promoted to EVP of Kia from VP of marketing and communications, said raising consumer awareness, perception and consideration for the brand is key. "And sponsoring 'Nuestra Belleza Latina' is the latest effort to communicate and interact with the Hispanic community in authentic and meaningful ways," he said, in a statement.

The company's integration includes segments in which contestants spend leisure time with a Kia vehicle. Digital activations include 11 custom pieces for Univision.com with the contestants, and a custom photo shoot of this season's winner with her Forte and social media promotion. The automaker tapped la Punto as Hispanic creative agency back in 2005.

Kia, whose advertising is lighthearted and offbeat, with Hamsters and grown up toys as starring characters, has also moved to get the brand in front of younger auto fans who like to customize cars. The company last month signed a 10-month deal with DC Entertainment and buff book Super Street. The automaker, which has been showing off super-hero themed cars for the last year or so, used the 2013 Chicago Auto Show to show a Superman-inspired Optima Hybrid. The partnership is to support DC's “We Can Be Heroes” charitable relief effort to fund efforts to ameliorate long-standing famine in the draught-wracked Horn of Africa.

The company unveiled a Batman version in New York last fall, a Green Lantern-themed Soul, Forte Coup done up as The Flash, a five-door version of the Forte with a Cyborg theme, and a Rio with an Aquaman theme at last year's SEMA show in Las Vegas. There will be an eighth vehicle meant to represent all seven in one.

Kia, which is launching a redesigned version of the Soul compact crossover this year also had a big reveal or two in Geneva last week: the Kia Provo Concept, meant to suggest where the automaker's design language is heading and a Euro market compact hatch for the adrenalin set called Pro_cee'd GT.

Courtesy of MediaPost News.

Kia Is On A Roll In The U.S.: 18 Consecutive Years Of Market Share Gains

It scarcely seems possible, but Kia said recently that at the end of 2012 Kia had 18 consecutive years of market share growth in the United States.

“Ah, that’s my favorite slide,” said Tom Loveless, executive vice president of sales, during a recent press presentation, when he got to the market share streak. That streak goes back to Kia’s U.S. debut, in 1994. Kia Motors America is based in Irvine, Calif.

Granted, Kia started out small. Sales in 1994 were only 692 cars, according to Automotive News. Kia broke 100,000 units in 1999; 200,000 units only two years later, in 2001; 300,000 in 2007, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

In 2012, the Kia brand topped 500,000 units in the U.S. market for the first time with record sales of 557,599. That beat Kia’s record set the previous year by 15 percent, in a total U.S. market that gained 13 percent overall.

“Any time you can grow share in a growing industry that’s certainly a good sign,” Loveless said.
The new Kia record in 2012 put the South Korean brand ahead of the Dodge, Jeep and Volkswagen brands. The only brands that outsold Kia in the United States last year were Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and sister division Hyundai, in that order. South Korea’s Hyundai Group controls both Hyundai and Kia.

Kia executives say that U.S. sales really went into high gear starting with the launch of the Kia Soul small hatchback in 2009. The Kia Soul was the first in a string of new models marked by what Kia calls a “design-led transformation.”

The short version is that distinctive designs stand out in a crowd and provide brand identity. Not incidentally, more attractive designs also convey a higher level of quality, durability and reliability – something Kia’s brand reputation sorely lacked before the latest product generation started arriving. Eye-catching marketing, including an unexpected hit, the Kia Hamsters, also helped.

Less obvious to customers, behind the scenes Kia and Hyundai more closely integrated their product lineups to save development costs. They also built flexible factories in the United States that can produce models for either brand, to meet shifting customer demand.

For example, the Kia Sorento gets almost an entire redesign this year for the 2014 model year after only a little more than three years on the market, because its close cousin under the skin, the Hyundai Santa Fe, got a total redesign for 2013 and it didn’t make sense to keep building the two models on two different platforms. That’s a really fast pace for new-product introductions.

Ralph Tjoa, national manager, car product planning, said the Kia Forte also gets a complete redesign this year after only about 3½ years on the market. He said, “We’ve replaced the Forte twice, within the current generation of the Toyota Corolla.”

Courtesy of Forbes.

2013 Kia Sportage Given "Best Bet" Distinction By The Car Book

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- With its impressive list of safety features, dynamic styling and advanced technology, the 2013 Sportage has been named a "Best Bet" by The Car Book 2013. 

"We are very proud to have the 2013 Sportage recognized as a "Best Bet" by The Car Book," said Michael Sprague , executive vice president of marketing and communications, KMA. "As Kia's longest running nameplate, the Sportage offers sleek styling, modern amenities and fun-to-drive performance in a capable compact CUV."

The "Best Bet" distinction is based on objective information collected from government and independent sources that evaluate the safety and performance needs of the American consumer. Cars that have ratings in all of the key Car Book categories – safety features, fuel economy, rollover, front and side crash tests, maintenance and repair costs, warranties, insurance costs, and complaints, with the greatest emphasis placed on crash test performance – are potentially titled as "Best Bets."

The Car Book is an annually updated guide to buying a new car, van, truck or SUV. It's the one-stop shop for the latest safety ratings, dealer prices, insurance premiums, maintenance costs, tires and is published in cooperation with the Center for Auto Safety, the nation's leading auto safety advocacy group.

"The Car Book, the consumer's best guide to smart and sensible car buying, analyzes multiple new cars each year and selects the top picks for the American car buyer," said Jack Gillis , author of The Car Book. "We appreciate Kia's commitment to deliver high-value market choices for the American car buyer."

About the 2013 Sportage

The 2013 Kia Sportage offers value-, image- and safety-conscious consumers a striking design and a standout combination of fun-to-drive performance, the latest in-vehicle technologies, and an abundance of comfort, convenience and safety features all at a tremendous value.  The sleek and modern Sportage is available with either a 2.4-liter, 176 horsepower engine or a 2.0-liter, 260 horsepower Turbo GDI engine.  Inside the cabin, the Sportage offers a host of available technology features, including Kia's new UVO Powered by Microsoft^{® [1]} hands-free, voice-activated infotainment system.  The 2013 Sportage features a starting MSRP of $19,000[2].

Kia: One of the World's Fastest Moving Global Automotive Brands

Kia Motors America is one of only three auto brands to increase U.S. sales in each of the past four years, and in 2012 the company surpassed the 500,000 unit mark for the first time.  With a full line of fun-to-drive cars and CUVs, Kia is advancing value to new levels of sophistication by combining European-influenced styling – under the guidance of chief design officer Peter Schreyer – with cutting-edge technologies, premium amenities, affordable pricing and the lowest cost of ownership in the industry.  Kia recently joined the exclusive ranks of Interbrand's "Top 100 Best Global Brands," and is poised to continue its momentum with seven all-new or significantly redesigned vehicles scheduled to arrive in showrooms in 2013.  Over the past decade Kia Motors has invested more than $1.4 billion in the U.S., including the company's first U.S. assembly plant in West Point, Georgia – Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia – which is responsible for the creation of more than 11,000 plant and supplier jobs.  The success of the U.S.-built* Optima and Sorento in two of the industry's largest segments has fueled Kia's rapid growth and is complemented by Kia's comprehensive lineup which includes the Soul urban passenger vehicle, Sportage compact CUV, Optima Hybrid, the Forte sedan, 5-door and Koup compacts, Rio and Rio 5-door sub-compacts and the Sedona minivan.

*The Sorento and Optima GDI (EX Trims and certain LX Trims only) and GDI Turbo are built in the United States from U.S. and globally sourced parts.

About Kia Motors America

Kia Motors America is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 765 dealers throughout the United States and serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and LPGA. In 2012, KMA recorded its best-ever annual sales total and gained U.S. market share for the 18th consecutive year.  Kia is poised to continue its momentum and will continue to build the brand through design innovation, quality, value, advanced safety features and new technologies.

Information about Kia Motors America and its full vehicle line-up is available at its website –www.kia.com. For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com.

[1] Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

[2] Starting prices are manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), which excludes $800 destination and handling fee, title, taxes, license, options and dealer charges. Actual prices set by dealer and may vary.

SOURCE Kia Motors America

Courtesy of PR Newswire.

Redesigned 2014 Kia Soul To Debut at 2013 New York Auto Show

CHICAGO — The redesigned 2014 Kia Soul will be one of three world debuts for the Korean automaker at the 2013 New York Auto Show.

But the Soul's styling changes are so evolutionary that some shoppers may be hard pressed to notice the difference between the 2013 and 2014 models.

The 2014 Soul's unveiling will take place the last week of March at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center. The Korean automaker also will unveil the restyled 2014 Optima and the 2014 Forte coupe, a new addition to the line. The Kia Optima was last redesigned in 2010.

The coupe is based on the redesigned Forte sedan that was introduced in November at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. A five-door hatchback Forte, also a new addition to the model line, was introduced last week at the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. Sales begin later this year.
The Soul is a popular vehicle in the United States and globally. Last year it was Kia's No. 2 selling vehicle here with nearly 116,000 sales. The Optima held the No. 1 spot here last year with nearly 153,000 sales.

The Soul's styling has been essentially unchanged since its introduction here in 2009. After four years of sales here, Kia's U.S. operations were expecting the redesigned Soul would have noticeable changes in styling that still preserved the character of the car, according to a Kia source who asked not to be identified. Additionally, the introduction of a second model was favored by Kia's U.S. operations, a model that would bring new buyers to the brand.

Neither is planned by the automaker's headquarters, the Kia source said. The car is assembled in Korea.

So subtle are the styling changes, the Kia insider said U.S. shoppers and current Soul owners may fail to see the design differences between the 2013 and 2014 model cars until they are placed side-by-side. Kia's headquarters in Korea decided that more noticeable styling changes might hurt Soul sales outside the United States.

In an effort to help maintain U.S. sales momentum, Kia's U.S. team requested that a second Soul model be added to line, a model that would create a buzz for the brand. Kia has been sending signals over the past several years that an expansion of the Soul line is imminent. Today, only one model is offered, a five-door hatchback. In past years, Kia has shown a three-door hatchback concept as well as a pickup-like concept for carrying surfboards or an all-terrain vehicle. There also has been talk about a convertible.

The source said an additional Soul model has been put on the back burner and the odds of approval are unclear.

Courtesy of Edmunds

Kia Hotbots Super Bowl Commercial 2013

Kia made a statement with its Super Bowl ad for the 2014 Forte with a little help from former Miss USA Alyssa Campanella and a handsy, disrespectful media reporter.

The futuristic Forte is unveiled at a media event by a group of sexy cyborgs born from the likeness of Campanella as a slovenly news writer smears his greasy paws all over the vehicle's pristine body. The cyborg unleashes a fury of quick strikes that send the reporter flying from the pedestal as she offers him a warning to "respect the tech."

It's probably safe to say he'll never make that same mistake twice.

As the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens battled for the right to lift the Lombardi Trophy, Super Bowl advertisers competed for another prize: your attention. Each time that CBS cut away from Super Bowl XLVII to pay the bills (or because the lights went out), another group of blockbuster commercials and movie trailers were unveiled (although many had been teased). At your Super Bowl party, were people paying closer attention during the game or the commercial breaks?

While memorable Super Bowl commercials like Apple's '1984' and Snickers' spot that featured Betty White will be remembered, so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. Will this ad make this year's best list? Is it controversial? Or, even worse, destined to be forgotten?

Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com