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I completely agree that we should not speculate too much on the negative side of things. At the end of the day, we the customers would have the last word when it comes to buying it or not buying it. KIA is a well established brand, and will bring more competition to Maruti. However if they do not bring better products than Maruti, soon they will have a downturn, and overall it would be the biggest setback for Hyundai. Hyundai has got the reliability, and it would certainly not want to loose that in such a big market as Inidia. So lets keep our fingures crossed.please:

I'm still surprised to read the R&D thing. I know Hyundai has a centre, but never realised Kia started operations. Probably they've been working out of the same facility, It kind of feels good when you know there's some automotive company to work for from Hyderabad (me being a Hyderabadi :p ).

Always wondered, India ne aisa kya Kiya ki Kia gaddi lekar Nepal gaya but Idhar nahi aaya. Just bring in your cars to India Kia.

I completely forgot. Last year in Sep/Oct, I also used a KIA OPTIMA Top Spec while in the US.
Believe me, the Optima has all the features that are there in the Lexus E350. Its a pretty long, heavy car, handles quite nicely on the highways and takes you from point A to point B in great comfort.
Very nice car to use if one is looking for power, comfort and so on. Well appointed interiors. Every bit as good as the Lexus in many ways.
So again, lets not pooh-pooh Kia motors.
They do make very good cars!

Last week in Jordan I was asking our driver / guide about the car scene and he said that while the Europeans ruled upto the 1990's, from the 2000's on, it was the Japanese and then fast overtaking the Japanese, have been the Koreans.

And while I could see a lot of 1980's and 1990's European cars, almost all the newer cars I saw in Amman City were the Japanese and Korean cars, with a very large percentage being taken up specifically by Toyota, Hyundai and Kia - pretty much every second or third car was from these brands!

Lots and lots of Hyundai Avante's, Velosters, Sonatas, Elantras and Kia Sportages, Souls, Optimas and their hatch which looks like a more stylish Hyundai I20 and whose model name Ive forgotten.

And while touring the rougher bits of Jordan, the Desert and Mountains and other historic sites etc, (especially the desert) clearly the preferred SUV type or Pickup Truck type vehicle of choice was the Toyota. Toyotas of all shapes, sizes and some of them battered almost beyond recognition, but all of them with excellent tyres and running pretty sweetly.

Just for your information...and Jordan is a country of extreme heat and dust. The Koreans clearly have cracked the reliability and image angle there.

It is not as poor a country as Egypt, where most cars one sees are quite ancient.
Yet it is not as rich as Dubai where one sees plenty of fancy European cars all over the place.

Saying that, the normal Jordanian Joe, like us regular Indian blokes, seems to like VFM and reliability above most other things - hence the rise of the Koreans.

That Business Standard "BS" article is speculation at best, with no direct quote from Hyundai or Kia, so lets not get ahead of the current development which is zero. There is a good 2-3 years for the company to open their shop so we can take a call when the first vehicle of theirs is launched.

From reviews I've seen that the difference in quality between Hyundai and Kia is no more than 97-100 and sometimes Kia is the 100. Nissan-Datsun would be a wrong comparison in this case, since its absolutely similar to VW-Skoda, where VW is simply "better" because it is the owning brand while Skoda is considered a couple of % inferior, same with Hyundai being the owning brand and Kia its follower/sharer of platform.

As far as the India strategy goes, I guess there really is no point in saying one wants to compete with Maruti Suzuki.. naturally every journalist out there would pointlessly pit with the leader/money-maker to make for an "exciting" read, just like every new Bollywood movie out there has to be compared with a Salman Khan mass movie+top grosser, even if the new movie is on a completely different subject.

Kia needs to stand out on its own.. bring in the Soul & Venga, small cars made for our tiny country with microscopic roads.. both are unique cars with plenty of space inside while being compact outside. If they have to do the platform sharing thingy and dilute their image then maybe they can bring in a cousin of the Verna to confuse buyers even more.

I agree with dark.knight! The "journalists" at Business Standard seem to have very poor knowledge of automobiles.

Kia is NO Datsun for Hyundai anywhere in the world! And it won't be in India, either! Period.

Nissan own 100% of Datsun - they resurrected the Datsun brand name for the sole reason that they did not want to put a Nissan logo on cars that simply weren't up to Nissan's standards.

In sharp contrast, Hyundai own only 33.88% of Kia, and Kia hold some stake in Hyundai as well. Kia is a cross-holding alliance partner of Hyundai (& not a subsidiary!) for an accurate description. If anything, the relationship between Hyundai & Kia is similar to the one between Renault & Nissan!

Guys,

Clarification - By saying Hyundai intends to do a 'Datsun' with Kia, we didn't mean the same level of cost cutting. Rather, it meant bringing in a brand for the lower segments.

I never agreed with Nissan bringing in Datsun for the exact reasons you've mentioned - Renault & Nissan aren't still established volume players with a track record of success. Whatever resources they have should be spent in strengthening two brands, instead of spreading themselves too thin with 3. The way Datsun is right now, IMHO, Nissan should be retired from India. Its brand value, reputation & sales are all horrible. Datsun is strong today, Nissan a weakling.

However, it's a different scenario with Hyundai. The slanted H is mature, has tons of money and a history of success. Bringing in a second brand will help it expand its market-share. A second brand will bring in a different set of customers (over and above the existing), helps you add dealers in the same locality (not possible with the same brand) and experiment with price / product. Hyundai can sell 2 Kias & 2 Hyundais in the 2.8 - 3.8 lakh segment, but they can't sell 4 Hyundais.

Further to my previous post and the listed reasons, Toyota is attempting a similar strategy with Daihatsu.

Furthering to what GTO said above - Kia is has earned quite a reputation globally.
In fact while in the US last month, I was pretty surprised to hear that Kia has topped JD Powers Initial Quality Study (IQS) list with 83 problems per hundred vehicles.
This beats reliability giants like Toyota, Honda, Lexus, etc. and even it's own sister brand Hyundai!

Seeing the potential of the entry level segment with Renault, Tata's recent successes - it may just be the right step towards gaining more market share while not diluting Hyundai's image.

Korean press still says that they are in a dilemma.

Full article :

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...23_212112.html

Official renderings of the next generation Kia Rio (cousin of the Hyundai i20) have been released. Will it make it to India as one of Kia's products in the more affordable segments??







Source

The Rio is Kia's best selling nameplate worldwide, is based on the same platform as its Hyundai cousins (i20/Verna) and the next generation model will be unveiled at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. It will replace the existing model pictured below:



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True, Kia stunned many by topping J.D. Power's 2016 U.S. Initial Quality Study, ending a 27-year long reign of premium brands:



Source: J.D. Power

The Rio was revealed yesterday. The cars looks very good inside out. Looks like Kia has taken the best bits from the current Polo and i20 and made their version, but no complaints. :D Hope this drives well.









Source

Kia invites Indian journos to Korea to have a sneak peak at their brand.

Kia motors are evaluating options to expand business and set up manufacturing plant though no concrete plans are revealed as of now.

ACI's report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN1dxvX9TDY

The Rio looks fantastic. Autocar reports that the quality of Kia cars are better than Hyundai's clap:clap:

Yes, The Rio is a looker. I had chance to travel & Experience Kia Sportage in Texas, USA last Year. It was just Fantasic, everything was so well put together, i felt like i am in a German Car, Quality was that good.

And I am sure it (Rio) will be one of the Main Models for Kia in India. It is based on i20, but there is enough differentiation between the two & this will appeal to Indians & I am certain that like Hyundai, Kia will be a Successful Brand when it comes here in 2019/20.

I had mentioned in other thread (Honda WR-V), No Product will sell well unless it is different in feel despite being Similar.

Ex - Rapid & Vento. For a Common Man, both are same, he just cannot make out the difference like we do. When both cars are similar, he will walk away not having clear choice. This is one of the Reason why Rapid & Vento aren't selling, same holds true for Duster & Terrano especially after the latter's launch. Cross Polo is another example.

Here Despite Kia & Hyundai being Similar, both brands cars are completely different in terms of look & feel. So, I feel that Kia are just waiting for thier time. Post that, I see this company among the Top 3 Manufacturers in India.

Kia is the budget subsidiary for Hyundai and is supposed to look after the lower range of segment. And one look at the interiors of these products, I could pay a premium over Hyundai products! And these cars look like having more flair than the Hyundai products.

If they bring these cars a notch below Hyundai's own products, these are gonna set the market on fire!!

The all-new, 3rd-gen 2017 Kia Picanto has been revealed officially, ahead of it's launch at the Geneva Auto Show in March.

First offering of Kia Motors for India? Certainly looks the part.