Manny Aligada: unboxing Kia’s power to surprise

Kia Philippines president Manny Aligada, with two popular Kia models, the Sorento and Picanto, at the background, looks forward to managing the Korean brand.

The tagline of Kia Motors Corporation is “The power to surprise,” but last week, it may have been Kia Philippines that was surprised.

On Jan. 31, the day after the Kia brand was relaunched in Makati under Ayala Corporation’s management, a full-page, full color advertisement appeared on page 3 of this newspaper touting an all-new Kia model, the Soluto.

But on the same day in PDI, a two-page full color ad appeared in the center spread proclaiming the all-new Hyundai Reina.

Both the Kia Soluto and Hyundai Reina are subcompact sedans powered by a 1.4-liter, 95 PS gasoline engine, and both are priced below one million pesos.

So the direct challenge to Ayala-led Kia is obvious.

Ironically enough, Hyundai Motor Co. holds a 33.88 percent stake in Kia Motors in Korea. But on a global scale, Kia operates independently with a separate design workshop, marketing, and branding.

Such surprises—if indeed it was a surprise—will not faze Manny Aligada, the new president of Kia Philippines.

Neither will Kia’s declining market share in the last three years, after hitting a peak of 10,000 unit sales and 4 percent market share in 2015.

In 2018, the full year sales of Columbian Autocar Corp., then the distributor of Kia vehicles, plunged 58 percent to 2,238 units from 5,186 units the previous year, as per data from the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (Campi).

In terms of the market share, this represented an even measly 0.63 percent from 1.22 percent in 2017.

Enormous task

Manny Aligada is thus confronted with the enormous task of turning Kia Philippines around.

Aligada does not come unprepared. He is familiar with the way the automotive industry works.

Before he was appointed to head Kia, he was the president and chief operating officer of Honda Cars Makati, Inc. and Isuzu Automotive Dealership, Inc.

(Isuzu, Honda, Volkswagen, KTM, and now Kia, are brands under AC Industrials, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation.)

During his six-year stint at Honda Cars and Isuzu, his team accounted for 40 percent of market network share for each of the Honda and Isuzu brands.

In 2018, they were Dealer of the Year for both Honda and Isuzu.

A University of the Philippines Diliman business administration graduate, Aligada honed his marketing skills as a sales manager of Philamlife Insurance Co., and as a Citibank vice president, before joining Ayala Corp. as a managing director in 1998 to head Globe Telecom’s Customer Engagement.

From Globe Telecom, he was promoted to president and COO of the Honda Cars and Isuzu dealerships in Makati.

Aligada says that when he learned he would be appointed to head Kia Philippines, “I looked forward to managing Kia Philippines, and in fact, felt very excited and committed to steering it to a growth path as soon as possible.

“I knew the opportunities the Kia brand could offer, given its global presence and reputation for quality and reliability, apart from smooth styling/design.

Solid brand

“Because of this, I knew it was a solid brand whose reputation we could further develop and make known to our target publics.”

Since he was assigned to Kia only last Dec. 1, Aligada has not visited Kia’s manufacturing plants in Korea.

He has gone to Kia’s headquarters, however, for a one-day business session with Kia’s top executives.

Under the arrangement, Ayala will handle Kia Philippines’ business planning and development, and daily operational management.

He says the final arrangement “was the optimum position that would make the operation viable for both of the parties involved.”

The Kia models that are currently offered in the Philippines—the Sorrento midsize SUV/crossover, Sportage subcompact SUV/crossover, Grand Carnival minivan, Rio subcompact car and Picanto mini subcompact—are imported from Korea.

The only exception is the newly launched Soluto, which is manufactured in China using the latest technology available from Kia Manufacturing under the direct management of Kia Motors of Korea.

Aligada has never owned a Kia vehicle, but plans to choose a Soluto for his daily rides. The Soluto is the first of three all-new models that he promised to “unbox” in 2019 when he first met the motoring press at a Kia media roundtable last December.

Will Kia’s much-awaited sport sedan, the Stinger, be “unboxed” next, specifically at the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) in April?

As an experienced marketing man, the affable Aligada keeps the excitement buzzing by neither confirming nor denying—with a smile.