Photo: Kia
Korea's second largest automaker Kia has seen its sales grow threefold over the past decade and is hoping to reach 3.5 million vehicles delivered by 2016, compared to just 2.7 million right now.
However, this increase will not come by bringing ever cheaper cars to market, but by increasing customer satisfaction. In an interview with Automotive News, a top Kia executive said the company has a two-prong offensive planned, adding quality and increasing the level of technology used in their cars.
One part of the equation is benchmarking Volkswagen as a mainstream car building formula, and scrutinizing Audi and BMW's ideas. On the tech side, they will try to differentiate themselves from Hyundai by adoption turbocharged engines and double-clutch gearboxes. They will also roll out additional gasoline-electric hybrid options starting in 2015.
"VW has everything from very small to very big, up to the Phaeton and vans and convertibles and everything, but within the volume brands they have a kind of premium quality," said Peter Schreyer, a president at Hyundai Motor Group overseeing global design at both Kia and Hyundai.
Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req.
One part of the equation is benchmarking Volkswagen as a mainstream car building formula, and scrutinizing Audi and BMW's ideas. On the tech side, they will try to differentiate themselves from Hyundai by adoption turbocharged engines and double-clutch gearboxes. They will also roll out additional gasoline-electric hybrid options starting in 2015.
"VW has everything from very small to very big, up to the Phaeton and vans and convertibles and everything, but within the volume brands they have a kind of premium quality," said Peter Schreyer, a president at Hyundai Motor Group overseeing global design at both Kia and Hyundai.
Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req.
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