Kia - a rising star

Korean carmaker Kia aims to boost its sales in New Zealand this year by about 100 per cent, to 1500 from last year's 760.

A tall order? Not in the least, considering sales in the first three months of this year are up 61 per cent.

The success of Kia follows growth in other markets: Europe was up 70 per cent last year; Australia 43 per cent; America 27 per cent.

"It's the world's fastest-growing car brand - and New Zealand's second fastest this year after [its parent company] Hyundai," said Kia Motors NZ general manager John Keenan. "This says something about the growing stature of Korean carmakers."

It also says something about the way Kia has adapted to different markets. Take Britain, where it has achieved record growth over six years and expects to sell 45,000 cars this year.

It launched its small Picanto there last year with an advertising campaign that put the car into real-life situations using seven cartoon characters, Patrick, Daryll, Susan, Debbie, Gina, Shioban, and Guiseppe.

The campaign was called Think About It and offered the Picanto for sale on a deposit of 1 ($2.60). The theme was the smart decision is not always the obvious one. In one ad the characters were waiting for a bus, under a dark and threatening sky.

Said Mick Mahoney, creative director of British agency Mustoes: "The ad was based on the simple observation that most bus fares cost 1, the same price as a new Kia, and that it doesn't take a genius to spot which one is the best value.

"The spot helped reinforce just what a miserable experience waiting for a bus can be."

It won many awards, including best car advertisement for last year. Kia and Mustoes adapted the campaign for the new sedan and hatchback Cerato, which went on sale in Britain a few months ago.

Said Lawrence Hamilton, general manager of marketing at Kia in Britain: "The 1 deposit is something that Kia now owns in the minds of the audience."

Kia Motors NZ won't use the Think About It campaign, nor will it offer its Cerato and new four-wheel-drive Sportage range for $2.60 Downunder.

Rather it is going with Power to Surprise, based on what it says is "exceptional pricing and comprehensive equipment levels" in the vehicles, launched on roads north of Auckland the other day.

It will also use the line Dare to Compare. The Cerato is a Toyota Corolla/Honda Civic-sized model powered by a choice of two 2-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, one producing 101kW (135bhp) at 6000rpm and 182Nm at 4500rpm, and the other, a higher-tech unit, 105kW (141bhp) at 6000rpm and 184Nm at 4500rpm.

Both hatchback and sedan offer bigger engines and arguably more interior room than the Corolla or Civic. Fit and finish is good, although the interior is dominated by a one-style-suits-all plastic. Ride is also good. So is the predictable handling.

The best thing is the price and the range of standard equipment, which includes six airbags, alloy wheels, power windows and mirrors and six-speaker CD. Cruise control and climate air-conditioning are options.

The Cerato starts at $23,500 for the EX five-speed manual hatchback. The EX four-speed automatic is $24,990. The better-equipped HX automatic is $25,800, in hatchback and sedan guise.

The all-new and well-equipped Sportage comes with a choice of three engines - 2-litre four-cylinder and 2.6-litre V6 petrol units, and, for the first time in the small SUV category, a 2-litre turbodiesel.

The 2-litre petrol Sportage develops 105kW at 6000rpm and 184Nm at 4500rpm and is mated to either a five-speed manual ($30,300) or four-speed automatic ($31,700).

The 2.7-litre unit ($36,995) produces 129kW (173bhp) at 6000rpm and 241Nm at 4000rpm and is coupled to a four-speed automatic box.

The 2-litre turbodiesel puts out 83kW (111bhp) at 4000rpm and 245Nm between 1800-2500rpm. The five-speed manual costs $30,995, the four-speed auto $32,400.

Kia tested the Sportage over the Extreme 4WD course in Kaukapakapa. The range comes with an electronic on-demand four-wheel-drive system, where drive normally goes to the front wheels but can automatically be split front and rear. It can also be locked 50:50 across both axles if the going gets tough. It did on some sections of the course, where the system worked without a hitch.

But the manual 2-litre petrol model struggled. It didn't have enough oomph in the rough stuff and the clutch screamed for mercy. It was more at home on the tarseal, where most Sportage models will spend their lives anyway.

The V6 and turbodiesel models make more sense, if only because they don't cost much more and remain less stressed on and off the road.

Kia Motors Corporation could argue that its success is predestined. The name comes from two Chinese characters: "Ki" means "rising up" and "a" means "Asia." When founded in 1944 in Seoul, the company made bicycle parts by hand. In 1961, it produced Korea's first motorcycle and in 1962, the country's first truck, a three-wheeler.

Kia also produced Korea's first petrol engine in 1973 and, a year later, Korea's first passenger car, the Brisa. The Brisa became the first Korean vehicle to be exported, when it was sold in the Middle East. Korea's first diesel engine was also produced by Kia, in 1978.

Kia continued in the automotive industry until 1997, when it fell victim to the Asian financial crisis and was taken over by the Hyundai Business Group the following year.

The Hyundai Automotive Group was founded in 2000 and Kia and Hyundai Motor Company became sister companies along with parts supplier Hyundai Mobis and several other companies. Kia is now Korea's second largest manufacturer and its oldest.

It has three production centres and one joint venture in Korea that produce about 1.3 million vehicles annually - 760,149 units of which were exported last year.

Kia's export-to-domestic sales ratio has rapidly risen from 54 per cent in 2001 to 75 per cent last year.