Comments on: Round 1 – Kia gear up for the end of scrappage battle http://www.motor-trade-insider.com/index.php/2010/01/round-1-kia-gear-up-for-the-end-of-scrappage-battle/ Car Buying Guide Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:09:15 +0000 hourly 1 By: Mark Robbins http://www.motor-trade-insider.com/index.php/2010/01/round-1-kia-gear-up-for-the-end-of-scrappage-battle/comment-page-1/#comment-1264 Mark Robbins Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:47:10 +0000 http://www.motor-trade-insider.com/?p=6241#comment-1264 The thing here is Kia's ability to understand its customer base and take advantage of it, how many young trendy things at college, University, or indeed working show off their nice new Kia on a friday night? what self respecting sales rep puts a i10 or ceed on their want list as a company car? and how many fleet buyers are queuing up to buy them in quantity? Answer: Very few if any ! The young trendy types that can afford new or have generous parents all want 106's, Corsa, 207's, Fiestas etc: Sales Reps want the new Vectra or Mondeo, Golf etc: and fleet buyers, well, what they always want, more of the above. Kia and Hyundai know full well the age range and prioritys of the people who buy their product, and its not led by style or fashion, they dont care if it doesnt have any va va voom, or the drive of their life, or Kinetic Design, but they do care about practicality, and servicing costs, and being called Sir and Madam occasionally, they only drive 5,000 miles a year anyway so that seven year warranty not only grabs their attention like no other it makes pretty good sense for Kia as well, they dont expect high warranty claims, their product isnt going to be driven within an inch of its life at 70mph and above around the M25 everyday, its a no brainer, they cant loose! but more importantly Kia and Hyundai have pulled off the biggest trump card of all here, they have quietly been investing and improving their range to such an extent that they now have a seriously good product (and they know it) and its at the all important lower end of the price scale, and they are so confident in their product that they are able to offer a class leading Seven Year warranty that they just know is going to grab consumers attention, should other manufacturers be worried? in my opinion thats a big YES. The thing here is Kia’s ability to understand its customer base and take advantage of it, how many young trendy things at college, University, or indeed working show off their nice new Kia on a friday night? what self respecting sales rep puts a i10 or ceed on their want list as a company car? and how many fleet buyers are queuing up to buy them in quantity? Answer: Very few if any ! The young trendy types that can afford new or have generous parents all want 106′s, Corsa, 207′s, Fiestas etc: Sales Reps want the new Vectra or Mondeo, Golf etc: and fleet buyers, well, what they always want, more of the above.

Kia and Hyundai know full well the age range and prioritys of the people who buy their product, and its not led by style or fashion, they dont care if it doesnt have any va va voom, or the drive of their life, or Kinetic Design, but they do care about practicality, and servicing costs, and being called Sir and Madam occasionally, they only drive 5,000 miles a year anyway so that seven year warranty not only grabs their attention like no other it makes pretty good sense for Kia as well, they dont expect high warranty claims, their product isnt going to be driven within an inch of its life at 70mph and above around the M25 everyday, its a no brainer, they cant loose! but more importantly Kia and Hyundai have pulled off the biggest trump card of all here, they have quietly been investing and improving their range to such an extent that they now have a seriously good product (and they know it) and its at the all important lower end of the price scale, and they are so confident in their product that they are able to offer a class leading Seven Year warranty that they just know is going to grab consumers attention, should other manufacturers be worried? in my opinion thats a big YES.

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