Kia Motors has crossed the 3,00,000 sales milestone in India. As of July 2021, the carmaker had sold 2,97,781 units, just 2,219 units shy of the 3,00,000 mark. The remaining units were then racked up in the first five days of August.
- Seltos highest contributor with 66 percent share
- Sonet contributed 32 percent of sales
- 3,00,000th car to roll out was a Seltos
Kia India: 3,00,000 sales milestone
Kia India crossed the 1,00,000 milestone in July 2020, 2,00,000 milestone in January 2021 and the 3,00,000 figure in August 2021. While the first 1,00,000 was clocked in a year, the sale of the next 2,00,000 units came up in barely 12 months, indicating the high adoption rate of Kia cars amongst Indians.
Kia India’s flagship product, the Seltos, remains the highest contributor with a 66 percent share in sales while the Sonet added 32 percent. The brand sold 7,310 units of its premium offering, the Carnival.
Commenting on this achievement, Kookhyun Shim, MD and CEO, Kia India said, “3,00,000 sales for Kia India is a strong affirmation of customer acceptance and their confidence in the brand and its offerings. Despite testing times, the Indian market has shown a strong rebound in demand. Our extensive sales, aftersales service network and pre-emptive measures like an end-to-end digitised sales process has helped us minimise business risks and perform against all odds."
Kia India: retail network
Kia has developed a strong retail network in the country. It now aims to expand it footprint from the current 300 to 360 touchpoints, covering 90 percent of the Indian market, including Tier III, IV cities and upcountry markets. Kia also initiated its digitisation drive and has been offering end-to-end digital sales since the start of its sales operations in the country. The brand has successfully created a Phygital framework (Physical + Digital) wherein digital channels complement the efforts of its dealer partners.
The Seltos was the 3,00,000th car to roll out from Kia’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Anantapur, which employs over 13,000 employees. The Anantapur plant is Kia’s most advanced production facility, equipped with over 450 robots, Artificial Intelligence and environment-conscious techniques such as 100 percent water recycling.
What should give the carmaker more momentum in the marketplace is its No. 1 ranking in dealer satisfaction. A few days ago, Kia India topped FADA India’s Dealer Satisfaction Study 2021, notching 879 points, exceeding the nearest carmaker by 101 points.
Kia in India
Earlier this year, Kia introduced updated versions of both the Sonet and Seltos SUVs. The South Korean carmaker does not have any major launches coming up this year. However, Kia is gearing up to introduce an all-new MPV. This new model (Codename: KY) will see a market launch sometime in early 2022.
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