Rumour Mill: Some analyst predicts Kia not long for this world.

Mitlov said:
Truth. I see Kias everywhere (along with Hyundais). I essentially never see Suzukis, and except for a few boy racers in EVOs, I essentially never see Mitsubishis.
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Same for me. I don't even see many older Mistus, it's basically new Evo or nothing around here it seems.
 
Outlanders are out there every so often, but hardly ever a Gallant or Montero...very very few new-style eclipses.
 
I see plenty of Eclipses and Lancers, old and new, regular and Evo. Outlanders too. Suzuki on the other hand, they're around, but less common. My sister has one.
 
edkwon said:
Neither did it in the US until very recently, now that reputation is quickly changing. None of the local motor journalists can make fun of the car maker anymore since they continue to make quality/tech leaps and bounds that shame the more well established competition.
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They're not something worth making fun of anymore. We have Chinese cars for that now (I find it amusing that the instant the Koreans become totally acceptable cars, someone decides the market needs a new laughing stock). Hyundais still are considered trailing behind European and Japanese cars here, no longer on quality but more for the way they drive.

Anyway, I think Hyundai is in a strange situation here, and its just because they can't price the cars cheap enough. A base 1.6 litre i30 now costs the same as a base 2.0 Focus, and Hyundai is still seen as a budget brand, with the associated image. There is no reason for buying a Hyundai (an i30 anyway) at the moment.
 
What about Hyundais 9/7-year warranty? Don't they have that? That's what HKM (Hyundai-Kia Motors) use to pull people here, they're perfectly good cars and their warrantys are epic compared to the Euro-competition which offers 2 years across the board (Opel offering 5 years as of 2010). That said the cee?d is the #5 most sold car here, the i30 isn't, because the cee?d is better and costs less.
 
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AiR said:
What about Hyundais 9/7-year warranty? Don't they have that? That's what HKM (Hyundai-Kia Motors) use to pull people here, they're perfectly good cars and their warrantys are epic compared to the Euro-competition which offers 2 years across the board (Opel offering 5 years as of 2010). That said the cee?d is the #5 most sold car here, the i30 isn't, because the cee?d is better and costs less.
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They have a 5 year warranty here. But so does Mitsubishi, they don't have the budget image, and again a Lancer isn't much more expensive than a similarly specced i30. Everyone else has 3 year warranties.
 
I think many of you are making the mistake of equating market success with business success. Just because you see a lot of Kia's on the roads/nature strips/verges/driveways/front gardens of your neighborhood doesn't mean the company is a business success. If HKM has 2 separate management structures it is basically duplicating unproductive and expensive elements of it's business, which will negatively impact on it's profit margins.
 
I think but am not entirely certain that here in the states last year (or atleast 08 to 09), Hyundai/Kia were the only car companies to show increase in sales while literally every other brand was falling, some by a lot.

im sure the 10 year/ 100,000 mile warranty had something to do with it.
 
DarthBane22 said:
I think but am not entirely certain that here in the states last year (or atleast 08 to 09), Hyundai/Kia were the only car companies to show increase in sales while literally every other brand was falling, some by a lot.

im sure the 10 year/ 100,000 mile warranty had something to do with it.
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This is the image i have gotten too following autoblog. I don't know too much about EU numbers, but i'm sure i see more Kia's now than before. Plus they are finally getting the design part right too with Forte, Forte Koup and Soul. Maybe because of the old VW, Audi man, Peter Schreyer that have led Kia's design center since end of 2006.

kia-forte-koup1.jpg



I personally think Kia is actually destined for something big. South Korea as a whole is on fire(in a good way ;)).
 
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South Korea is the new Japan in many ways, which means great things because Hyundai and Kia are finally starting to really "get it" and make some very good cars. The appliance attitude they had towards cars is gone, having been replaced with an effort to make enjoyable vehicles at great bargains. That with the warranty offered here in the States is a fantastic combination that many are finding appealing, which has helped to shed the shoddy image of years past.
 
Friend of mine is actually looking to get in at Kia, the interviews have a LOT of discussions about how a company with Kia's rep could/would change perception and move into a position thats cool to own.

Hence products like the Soul and Forte coming out.
 
If it is true (which probably isn't) I reckon they're kicking them out at a time when they are now into their strive of reasonably priced cars and cars that people wouldn't mind buying. I have nothing against Kia/Hyundai and there should be more than one Korean Car company anyway (even though they're sibling companies owned by the same person).
 
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