In conversation with
Yong S Kim, Executive Director
and CSO, Kia Motors India
Interviewed by: Sarmad Kadiri
There’s a lot of buzz around the SP Concept shownatAuto
Expo 2018 and the SP2i Signature shown recentlyatthe
2019 SeoulMotorShow.WhatcanweexpectfromKia’s
firstmodelforIndia?
As you mentioned, both these are concepts and we have not
unveiled any production-ready models yet. We have been
studying the Indian market very closely and have identified some
success factors, things that Indian customers want. Accordingly,
we have developed all our SP2 products in that direction. We
have collaborated with our R&D centres and have included
several India-specific elements along with some women-centric
features. Being a newcomer to this country, we didn’t want to
leave anything to chance, so we did a lot of road shows and our
cars were appreciated for their design and features. We have
worked very hard and are confident that our product will meet the
expectations of the car-buyers in India.
What,accordingtotheseroadsshowsandyourresearch,is
theIndiancustomerlookingforwhilebuyinga newcar?
One of the things the Indian customers seek is a very good
touch and feel. When they saw Kia cars, their first impression was
that the design was unique, youthful, and dynamic. When they
stepped inside the international car models that we showcased,
they felt that this is totally global quality touch and feel. Hence,
they are expecting this quality and finish to come to India. We
also showed these cars to our dealers across 26 Indian cities and
even they are expecting very superior interior touch and feel. That
is one of the things we have tried to incorporate during the
development of the India-specific SP2 model that we will be
launching soon. The SP2 is the first car that we have developed
for India while maintaining our global standards.
WhatmodellaunchescanweexpectaftertheSP2appears
onIndianroads?
New model strategy is a top secret and we don’t divulge many
details about them. We will enter the segments where there is
growth. We are not competing with any of the existing brands as
they have their own strategies, and we have our own plans and
strategies. The Indian market is rapidly growing and the forecast
was that it would pass four million, but probably that will be
‘We are planning to
introduce a new car
every six months’
achieved next year. And, by 2030, some people are expecting
India to surpass 10 million car sales. So, there is big growth in the
country. Without competing with other car-makers, we hope to
develop our own market and our own customers. That’s how we
are planning to develop our future car models and segments.CompactSUVsareverypopularinIndia.Canweexpectto
seea smallSUVfromKiainIndiainthenearfuture?
We are open to all models. Globally, the process of developing
new car models is constantly happening. Whenever we feel the
need for introducing a certain model in a market, we can bring it
immediately. Our production capacity is 300,000 units and we are
planning to introduce a new car every six months.We saw that Kia have a wide range of all-electric and even
hybridcarmodels.Fora countrylikeIndia,whichofthe
twomakesmoresense?
This depends completely on the customers and how they accept
electric vehicles. EVs are totally different from ICE vehicles
because they need time to be charged. Regular cars can be
refuelled in just a couple of minutes but electric cars need to be
charged for a longer duration or, maybe, overnight and without
forgetting it. Our electric vehicles are very advanced and have a
range of about 450 km on a single charge. The longer the range,
the more expensive the car. Because of these reasons, customer
expectation is very important. Many eco-friendly conscious
people become early adaptors and accept EV.
We have also presented our EV models to the Andhra Pradesh
government to participate in their smart city project. Many people
are very impressed by our EVs here, which indicates that there
could be many early adaptors even in India. We are ready and the
moment there is demand for this type of models, we can get those
from our international range of EV, PHEV, and even hydrogen-
powered cars. We need some volumes because we have to
produce them here.50 CAR INDIA May 2019 http://www.carindia.in
Interview Yong S Kim