To mark the 100-day countdown to the start of the UEFA European Football Championshi, Kia Motors Corporation, a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart, announced today the rollout of interactive, user-orientated web tools on a new micro-site to help leverage its role as an official global sponsor of this year’s tournament.

Through Kia’s micro-site, football fans will have an opportunity to attend a match featuring their team at this year’s tournament through Kia’s ‘Drive for Glory’ and the ‘Be Kia, Be Together’ competitions. Furthermore, young fans will have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams as a Kia Official Match Ball Carrier via a variety of events held by participating Kia dealers.

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Kia has set aside money to help its dealers build or renovate stores. The effort is part of a plan to boost the brand’s shaky image as it prepares to introduce several vehicles and pursue an ambitious sales target.

So far, 150 dealers have agreed to redo their stores under the program, says Jim Hoostal, director of retail development for Kia Motors America. Hoostal says he hopes to get at least 300 stores on board by 2011.

“We pay a formula to offset construction costs,” Hoostal says. “The support is based on the size of the facility. Ground-up stores get more than a renovation.”

Kia budgeted the money last summer but began rolling out the program in full force this year. The plan was implemented under former Kia Motors America boss Len Hunt, who left the company Feb. 8 along with marketing chief Ian Beavis. But the upgrade remains intact. (more…)

Speaking of Picanto in a post below, there’s one thing that future Picanto buyers shouldn’t miss!

Kia now offers a Sport Package for Picanto, which makes it look a bit sportier and even more attractive! Sport Package consists of different grille, front and rear bumper, metallic cluster, alloy pedals and more. You can see the images after the jump… (more…)

Korean compact car market has been dominated by GM Daewoo’s Matiz since 2004 when Kia stopped manufacturing it’s Visto compact car. Local consumers long favored larger sedans but recent record-high oil prices have reignited the popularity of compacts, since they consume less fuel and receive tax breaks in Korea.

Sales of GM Daewoo’s Matiz amounted to 48,487 units between January and November last year, up nearly 40 percent from a year earlier, while sales of the Morning (Picanto), soared to 28,500 units ( +36.2 percent ) during the same period.

Soon after the facelifted version of Morning mini car went on sale in Korea (January), Kia released it’s sales plans and an intention to conquer majority of Korean mini car market in 2008.

While the overall mini car market is expected to grow by 56% to 84,000 units, Kia hopes to capture about 60% of it. The company said in a statement that it is aiming for domestic sales of 50,000 units in 2008, up 75% compared to last year.

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Related news: Six months waiting list for Kia Morning in Korea

Just-Auto.com published an interesting interview with Mr. Paul Willis, who was recently appointed as COO of Kia Motors Europe (KME). Together with Kwang Ho Nam, President of KME, he will be responsible for automakers growth in Europe in the the next few years. Let’s see what he told to David Legget, (Just-Auto.com):

DL: How do you see Kia’s sales volume evolving in 2008?
PW: In 2008 in Western Europe we want to sell around 300,000 cars - up from about 266,000 last year. In order to do that we have some additional models that we didn’t have last year. There’s the Cee’d sporty wagon, which has been particularly well received in Germany and other countries in mainland Europe. And we have just launched the new 3-door in the last few weeks.

We want to progress, we want to develop our volume and develop our market share and establish Kia as a brand across Europe. (more…)

The 2008 Kia Rondo was named a “Best Value” by Parents Magazine and Edmunds.com in their annual list of Best Family Cars. Parents cited the optional third row, allowing seating for seven, as just one of the reasons the Rondo is a good choice for families.

“The best thing about Parents Magazine’s recognition is that real parents who drive Rondos everyday with their families are the ones who recognized Rondo for its safety features, great value and amenities,” said Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of Kia Motors America and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG).

In addition to the third row and the price, Parents listed the hidden storage under the cargo area, split-folding rear seats and the front and rear power outlets, which kids love for plugging in DVD players and MP3 players, as additional benefits of the Rondo. One parent surveyed noted that her family of five was quite comfortable during a round-trip from Indiana to Colorado and noted “the pick-up is nice, and I find it easier to install car seats in it than in any vehicle I’ve ever driven.”

Parents Magazine and Edmunds.com list cover a range of sizes, styles and price points. The vehicles chosen share a commitment to safety, ranking at or near the top in government and industry crash tests and all offer cutting-edge technology to protect its passengers. Winners must have a strong track record for reliability and performance. Real parents who own the models were asked to judge their vehicle on factors like storage space, ease of car-seat installation and handling.

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Three SOUL concepts to reveal “fun” side of Kia

Defying traditional automotive classification, three new SOUL concept cars to be unveiled by Kia at the Geneva Show on 4 March, will reveal a whole new individual and fun direction for the Korean brand.

The trio of concepts are closely related to an upcoming production model that doesn’t fit into the usual motor industry brackets and will encourage a whole new breed of Kia customers to build an emotional bond with their new car and with the brand.

The SOUL concepts will introduce ‘a world of possibilities’ for customising and personalisation to future Kia customers that will be delivered by the new model with its special appeal to the young-at-heart - whatever their age!

The SOUL Burner (shown here) is the ‘bad boy’ of the concept trio complete with satin black finish and gloss dragon tattoos.

High resolution images of the Soul Burner:

Kia Motors America, the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA,” this season further expanded its NBA team partnerships to 16 teams — more than half of the NBA league. The basketball program represents Kia’s largest U.S. sports marketing effort to date, and is the company’s first-ever direct involvement with franchises from one of the four major sports leagues in the United States.

Kia has been named an “Official Partner” of the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Seattle SuperSonics, and will serve as a “Proud Partner” to the Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers. Kia also is named “Official Vehicle” of the Miami HEAT.

“Kia is proud to be a part of such a distinguished organization that also is a (more…)

Canadian auto sales recorded their second best January ever this year as the overall sales reached 102,831 units, a 12.8 percent increase over the January 2007, when 91,180 units were sold. While January sales are reaching record high numbers, the overall automobile sales is expected to slow down in 2008.

Following the January’s sales reports, Kia Canada reached the sales of 1808 units, a 20,2-percent increase over the same period of last year. Leading the way for the brand were popular Rondo minivan and Rio compact car.

Rondo proves to be a popular choice among Canadian consumers as it’s sales is steadily increasing month by month. Last month, Kia managed to move 663 Rondos, enough for it to become the best selling Kia model in Canada. Second place was given to Rio, followed by Sportage SUV. Rio saw 428 uits sold, while Sportage sold 284 units.

January 2008 sales:

Rondo - 663
Rio - 428
Sportage - 284
Spectra - 170
Sedona - 111
Sorento - 72
Magentis - 71
Amanti - 9

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Kia Motors Corp. first US assembly plant, located at West Point Georgia, is scheduled to open in November 2009. When operating at full capacity, the $1.2 billion automotive assembly and manufacturing plant, is expected to churn out massive 300.000 Kia vehicles each year.

Kia Motors Manufacturing Group Inc. is looking to hire around 2500 people for jobs at the plant, but far more job applications were filled during the 30-day recruitment period. By the February 7. deadline, the company had received more than 43.000 applications.

Kia used an online processing system to collect applications for the three main positions that will staff the assembly plant: production, maintenance and tool-and-die maintenance.

The first round of candidates will be invited for interviews and orientation in March, after the applications are fully reviewed. Kia representatives also stated they have received enough applications for hourly production and maintenance team member positions and do not expect to reopen the application process before the end of the year.

As said, only 2500 people will be selected to work at Kia’s main plant. However, there will be at least five parts supplying plants built nearby, possibly creating thousands of additional jobs in region.

Kia jobs related websites: Kiajobs.com, Kiajobsgeorgia.com, Next generation Sorento

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This is the latest news coming from Kia Motors America. It’s kind of shocking and not good for Kia Motors at all!

Acording to Addweek article, Ian Beavis, Kia’s top marketer, has left the company, along with CEO Len Hunt. (more…)

Kia will eventually offer a performance version of its new three-door Proceed hatchback, but this is unlikely to join the line-up before the car’s mid-life facelift sometime in the next two years.

Insiders have said the platform is more than capable of handling a power plant in excess of 180bhp and have played around with suspension settings which give the car impressive grip and handling.

One Kia engineer said: “There is agreement at the highest level that a performance version of the Proceed would give us a great halo product, but we have to find the time the develop it properly.”

Less likely is a production version of the Ceed convertible concept seen at last September’s Frankfurt motor show.

Company insiders said that if the project were to go ahead it would have to be contracted out to a specialist manufacturer as there is insufficient production availability at Kia’s production plant in Slovakia, now making three body styles plus the recently introduced Sportage SUV. [Source: just-auto]

Kia Auto, the representative of the Korean carmaker Kia Motors in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, sold 2,207 new Kia cars in the three Baltic countries last year, twice as many as in 2006.

Sales of new Kia cars in Lithuania soared by 124 percent, sales in Latvia by 140 percent, and sales in Estonia by 76 percent, Kia Auto said in a news release on Wednesday, citing data from the market researcher Datacenter.

Kia Cee’d cars hold a 5.5 percent of the Baltic new car market, the company said. Kia Motors, which is part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, produces over 1.3 million vehicles a year. [Source: Baltic Business Daily]