[gupta_chd]

So dirty politics has started

Case filed against YSRCP leaders for threatening Kia Motors GM.

https://m.ap7am.com/lv-315167-case-f...motors-gm.html

[sgiitk]

A quick one. Is not KIA a Hyundai relation. With Next by Maruti and Lexus by Toyota we seem to be entering this age.. I cannot remember what is Honda's premium label. Detroit is getting rid of Premium labels. Rising sun(s) and sinking Sun.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

A quick one. Is not KIA a Hyundai relation. With Next by Maruti and Lexus by Toyota we seem to be entering this age.. I cannot remember what is Honda's premium label. Detroit is getting rid of Premium labels. Rising sun(s) and sinking Sun.

At present Kia is Group Company of Hyundai. However, Kia is actually older than Hyundai Motors itself.

Kia was funded in mid-1940s (exact name I don't remember). In 1998, Hyundai rescued Kia from financial mess (same like Renault recused Nissan around same time). Even today Kia is not 100% subsidiary of Hyundai (around 34% shareholding).

Though in many markets, Kia is considered on lower pedestal than Hyundai, both develop products jointly, share engineering plans, platforms & powertrains, and in some cases manufacturing plants as well (like Anantpur plant would be shared by Hyundai - most likely to produce Next Gen Creta which is expected to share Seltos platform).

Now to your original question, the cheaper and premium branding is not a new game. I can recall some at this moment :

Ford - Lincoln
Honda - Acura
Datsun - Nissan - Infinity
Daihatsu - Toyota - Lexus
Kia - Hyundai - Genesis
Entire GM & VW group brands.

[anubhav7286]

My Experience with Kia Motors

I had pre booked the seltos and was eagerly waiting for it. On Saturday 3rd of August I read that the Seltos is now on display and available for test drive. I visited the VST Motors at Bangalore to see the vehicle. On reaching the showroom, i was extremely disappointed at the behavior of the staff. Their attitude was as if they are doing us a favor by letting us see the car. There were close to 15 attendants at the showroom and not one had the time to attend to me. I waited patiently for over 30 minutes and every 10 minutes asked if someone could assist us. In those 30 minutes not one came up and spoke to us. While the car does look great, but if a dealer treats you like this even before you have made the purchase, i can only imagine how bad the situation will be post purchase. I was so disappointed and angry that i gave them a piece of mind before walking out. Irony was, still no one came up. I cancelled my booking out there it self and went on to mail the marketing and sales head about my experience. I am yet to hear back from anyone, but I am most definitely not buying the Seltos anymore.

[TSIboy]

Kia Motor's Kottayam dealership (Incheon Kia) at Thellakom, MC Road still under construction.

[MukundanMK]

Originally Posted by TSIboy

Kia Motor's Kottayam dealership (Incheon Kia) at Thellakom, MC Road still under construction.

Kia is launching their India debut car at a time when automotive industry is going through a slowdown and new players like MG have made the competition tougher by bringing a feature loaded car at a very digressive pricing.

With Kia already falling behind time, this dealership is further falling down on capturing the few leftover market demand. It could be that, the dealership had very recently signed up with Kia and there would be a delay for sure, starting from display/test drive cars and also the actual delivery of cars.

[maven]

Originally Posted by anubhav7286

My Experience with Kia Motors

I had pre booked the seltos and was eagerly waiting for it.

...
I am yet to hear back from anyone, but I am most definitely not buying the Seltos anymore.

Awesome! I say this with no sarcasm.
Have seen this casual attitude from sellers in almost all products, from consumer goods to big ticket items.
It’s time consumers in India stop being okay with being treated as second grade citizens.

[sumeethaldankar]

On the other side of the pond, a review in general by one of the local but popular mechanic for Kia.

https://youtu.be/8arn8CGFOGc

https://youtu.be/dqZ3z6kL09s

The comments section of respective videos some do contradict the reviewer but in general the reputation is that of a cheap car manafacturer. I hope they do well here and their cars last as good as say Honda etc. Good luck to Kia India. I also hope they give long term warranties on their products here similar to the ones in developed markets.

[hydraulicsteer]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

On the other side of the pond, a review in general by one of the local but popular mechanic for Kia.

Scotty has been cribbing that bad about Hyundais as well and we all here in India know how reliable Hyundai’s have been, so much so, they make Toyota’s reliability claim a bit over rated and over priced. Many day to day Kia drivers swear about the cars’ reliability and low cost of ownership.

[//M]

Saw this Kia Sportage in Gurgaon an hour back.

[coolkurt]

Originally Posted by anubhav7286

My Experience with Kia Motors

I had a somewhat similar experience with Kia when I'd gone to book the Seltos. Success has gone to their head.
But then, i wasn't very surprised. I got the same experience when I'd gone to see the Venue at the Hyundai showroom. Nexa had the best service which had then prompted me to book the S Cross.

On the flip side, the experience with MG has been brilliant, which aided my decision to book the Hector. Everything from the first experience, the staff, the dealer behaviour has been perfect. I had a few queries which I mailed MG and within 24 hours I got a callback. The person was extremely courteous and answered each of my query, replying to them line by line! Honestly, I was taken by surprise. Not used to such a buying experience.

[sumeethaldankar]

Meanwhile many car review websites like Gaadiwaadi.com, Motorbeam etc have decided not to review the Seltos due to supposedly unfair treatment.

Now, our decision to not review the Kia Seltos is driven by some very bothersome practices followed by automakers in general, and Kia Motors in particular. At the very centre of this decision is a brazen misrepresentation of facts by the media facing team at Kia Motors. The decision is also meant to oppose the blatant bias the team at Kia Motors practised, and which, alarmingly, seems to be becoming the new normal within the auto industry. Talking specifically about the Seltos, we are listing out two of the most worrisome instances, among others, where Kia Motors’ Indian media management team acted in a biased, unfair manner. Needless to say, this was detrimental to our motive as journalists, which is timely reportage of important industry happenings.

Read more at: https://gaadiwaadi.com/heres-is-why-...he-kia-seltos/
During the unveiling event of the Kia Seltos in India, a small group of ‘select media’ members were allowed to shoot the car separately – a day in advance. This handed them an unfair advantage, as their first impressions, write-ups and videos were out while we were still attending the unveiling ceremony held on June 20th 2019. A small ‘select media’ group was taken to the brand’s production facility at Ananthapur and was given a purported ‘sneak peak’ of the product. When the concerned officials were inquired by this group about the activity, they commented that it was just a feedback session, and no reviews or opinions were meant to come out of it. Contrary to what we were told, full blown text reviews of the car having being driven at the company’s production facility were published on the respective platforms of these media outlets. Not just was an unfair advantage handed to a select group of media, the rest of the media was blatantly misinformed about the event.

Read more at: https://gaadiwaadi.com/heres-is-why-...he-kia-seltos/

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Meanwhile many car review websites like Gaadiwaadi.com, Motorbeam etc have decided not to review the Seltos due to supposedly unfair treatment.

This has already been discussed here (Behind the Scenes: How Press & Media Drives Work)

[jailbird_fynix]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

I do not like KIA logo.

Apparently, their new logo -

Kia will have two versions of its next all-new logo, one in red and one in black.

IAB

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

On the other side of the pond, a review in general by one of the local but popular mechanic for Kia.

Well, for Scotty, anything other than Toyota and Lexus ends up being crap, pile of junk, money pit, blah blah blah.

Most of the time he has a point, pointing out good cars from other companies, and bad cars/engines to avoid from even Toyota/Lexus.

And most of his views are from the POV of easy repairability by an independent mechanic and general reliability after 100k miles.

Hyundai is fairly reliable for us in India, but it's not exactly a 100k+ km maintenance champion.

Not a problem for Kia India, cause most of their present customers trade-in for a new car in 3-5 years.