The Kia brand was relaunched in the Philippines at an “unboxing” event on January 30, 2019, taking the next step in expanding its market presence after over two decades in the country. Kia Philippines now operates under AC Industrials, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation (AC). Here’s the news from Kia:
AC Industrials’ acquisition of Kia Philippines, marking the sixth brand under its vehicle distribution and dealership unit AC Automotive, is in line with its strategic thrust to strengthen AC Automotive’s significant presence in the local automotive market.
Established in 1944, Kia Motors Corporation (KMC) is the oldest and second largest automobile seller in South Korea, selling 2.81 million vehicles in 2018 in 185 countries through 24 sales offices and over 6,000 dealers. Kia Motors Asia-Pacific President Ted Lee noted the significance of the Philippine market to Kia’s growth, “Global Kia has been growing in the last decade as we recorded historical sales growth, enhanced our design excellence and proved our world-class quality. I strongly hope to see what we have achieved globally in this promising market as well. For that, Kia provides competitive products and will do so continuously. To prove this, Kia decided to export the Soluto with the Philippines as the first export market. Today is the first official day to introduce this attractive model to Filipino customers.”
The Soluto offers an array of value-for-money features, highlighted by the 1.4-liter Dual-CVVT gasoline engine that produces 95 PS of power and 132 Nm of torque, combined with a spacious interior as well as standard 7-inch Touchscreen Audio with Android Auto & Apple Carplay, 6-speaker system, rearview camera and steering wheel controls with EX-exclusive features such as leatherette seats and rear parking distance warning. The retail prices of the four variants of the Soluto range from P625,000 to P735,000 and are available in Clear White, Titanium Silver, Aurora Black Pearl, Blue Stream, and Marcato Red colors.
The public can get to see the Soluto for the first time up close from January 31 to February 3 during mall displays at the following venues: Activity Center of Bonifacio High Street in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City; Level 4 Cinema Lobby of Trinoma in Quezon City, and; Activity Center of Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa City. Other models in Kia Philippines’ product roster will also be on display.
The new Soluto joins the familiar Kia Philippines’ roster of vehicles, the trendy sub-compact hatchback Picanto and Rio, the technology-laden Sportage SUV, the powerful yet comfortable Sorento SUV, the versatile and spacious Grand Carnival MPV, and dependable workhorse K2500.
The four variants of the Picanto will be priced from P590,000 to P745,000 and are available in Clear White, Titanium Silver, Alice Blue, Pop Orange, Honey Bee and Lime Light colors while the Rio Hatchback will be offered at P920,000 (for the 1.4 LX AT) and P985,000 (for the 1.4 EX AT), and is available in Clear White, Platinum Graphite, Smoke Blue (LX AT only) and Signal Red (EX AT only).
The Sportage 2.0 Diesel LX will retail for P1.545 million while the 2.0 Diesel EX is at P1.820 million, with available colors Clear White, Sparkling Silver, Cherry Black, Mercury Blue, and Fiery Red. The three variants of the Grand Carnival will be priced from P1.995 million to P2.295 million and will come in Clear White (LX only), Snow Pearl White (EX only), Silky Silver, Panthera Metal, Aurora Black Pearl, and Titanium Brown (EX 7-seater only). The Sorento 2.2 Diesel EX 4×2 will be priced at P1.895 million while the 4×4 variant is offered at P2.195 million and will come in Snow Pearl White, Silky Silver, Iron Gray, and Aurora Black Pearl colors. The K2500 2.5 CRDI (cab and chassis) retails at P810,000.
The re-launch of Kia in the Philippines also featured the brand’s push to capture the younger segment of the automotive market, as Kia Philippines’ President Manny Aligada announced that KMC would be sponsoring the World Tour of the Korean pop music all-girl supergroup Blackpink which would be highlighted in the Philippines with the display of the Soluto at the SM Mall of Asia Arena lobby on February 2, the day Blackpink performs in Manila. Aligada also revealed that the next “unboxing” event of Kia Philippines for its next surprise would happen during the 2019 Manila International Auto Show in April, and then sometime in the last quarter for the third surprise for the year.
The Kia vehicles have comprehensive warranty coverage. Aside from the five years or 160,000-km general warranty, whichever comes first, Kia Philippines also offers five years or 150,000-km warranty for anti-perforation and paint. Service parts’ warranty is one year or 20,000 kilometers, whichever comes first. The periodic maintenance service (PMS) interval schedule for these models is every six months, or every 5,000 kilometers, whichever comes first.
Consistent with Kia’s global mantra of “The Power to Surprise,” Kia Philippines aims to establish more dealers in strategic locations. Kia has, at present, a network of over 35 dealerships in the country. With the Kia business in the Philippines now under ACI’s wing, every Kia dealership will deliver the Kia Promise to Care Programs, which will ramp up aftersales service quality, competence, and parts availability to provide every customer an exceptional service experience.
AC President Fernando Zobel de Ayala expressed in his special message, “We are excited to introduce Kia’s wide range of model lineup as well as a new brand of sales and service experience for Filipinos. We are delighted to partner with Kia Motors Corporation in this endeavor and we look forward to many years of working together as we reestablish the Kia brand in the Philippines.”
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