Kia Pondering Alphanumeric Naming Strategy in the US

Chief executives of both Hyundai and Kia are considering a potential scrapping of model names for the cee'd producer, while switching to numbers, a move that would strengthen the brand, as companies' officials said. Such a change would only come into effect in the United States, according to Automotive News, and will be inspired from the similar lineup currently offered in South Korea.

Hyundai Motor Co. Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun has already confirmed that such a plan is now under consideration, emphasizing that alphanumerics might create some confusion around the company's lineup especially in the United States, where customers are used to product names.

There are several alphanumeric names on Kia's domestic market, including K5 for the popular Optima, K7 for Cadenza - a model not sold in the United States, while the freshly-released Forte is expected to be sold as K3. However, Kia continues to use the English name in South Korea for a bunch of models, including Morning, Soul, Koup and Sportage. In addition, Hyundai has already adopted a similar strategy in Europe, where it sells models like i30 and i10.

So, what does the brand strengthening actually mean? Hyundai and Kia haven't answered but the South Korean automotive group is probably trying the same things other carmakers did in the past with some of their models. Basically, other companies have tried to drop car names in favor of alphanumerics to increase brand awareness, so that all their drivers would refer to the model per se using the brand's name, instead of the model designation.