Kia Wants to Increase Its Brand Awareness
Kia wants to cut back on its reliance on ye olde cash on the hood and increase its brand awareness in the U.S. To that end, the Korean automaker is launching a new ad campaign today that "continues to emphasize the thriftiness of its product line in times of escalating gas and food prices." BrandWeek reports that one ad shows a Kia Spectra in front of a gas station while a narrator proclaims: "Now, more than ever, you want to get the most for your money." And an ad for the Kia Sportage claims the CUV is priced "about $6,000 less than the Toyota Rav4 Limited; or, to put it another way, a whole year worth of groceries less." Kia's marketing director is suitably upbeat about the downbeat American economy. "It's not all doom and gloom; in fact we believe the opposite," says Tim Chaney. "People are still shopping for cars, albeit less than before, and we are in a good spot." Chaney took over as marketing maven back in February when his predecessor, along with CEO Len Hunt, "were let go." Time will tell if this new team can pull Kia's image out of the background noise.
Glenn is a baby-boomer, born in 1954. Along with his wife, he makes his home in Connecticut. Employed in the public sector as an Information Tedchnology Specialist, Glenn has long been a car fan. Past rides have included heavy iron such as a 1967 GTO, to a V8 T-Bird. In between those high-horsepower cars, he's owned a pair of BMW 320i's. Now, with a daily commute of 40 miles, his concession to MPG dictates the ownership of a 2006 Honda Civic coupe which, while fun to drive, is a modest car for a pistonhead. As an avid reader, Glenn enjoys TTAC, along with many other auto-realated sites, and the occasional good book. As an avid electronic junkie, Glenn holds an Advanced Class amateur ("ham") radio license, and is into many things electronic. From a satellite radio and portable GPS unit in the cars, to a modest home theater system and radio-intercom in his home, if it's run by the movement of electrons, he's interested. :-)
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What's Kia?
taxman Kia's version of the Elantra wagon that is coming is called the Rondo. From what I can tell the Rondo and the Elantra wagon have the same wheelbase, but the exterior dimensions are slightly different.
"I will completely agree with you any Kia prodcut before 2000 is garbage however the new “Kiadai” that you can buy right now is on par with the domestics quality, price, fit and finish." I'm sorry but I haven't found this to be the case at the auctions. Kias and Hyundais still have problems past the 100k mark and although there have been improvements, they're not at the level of domestics when it comes to reliability and long-term ownership. One good lining in the clouds is the current Hyundai Sonata which is a very competitive product. Along with the Fusion, I would recommend it for someone looking for a midsized vehicle. Other than that both manufacturers are still on the low end when it comes to quality.
I put 117k on my 2k Tiburon (bought in 99) before I traded it in and it was still going strong. I know a few people that have Accents and Elantras with more than that and they are running well. How many auctions do you typically see? I'm just curious as a person that has never been to one. We have a big one here in Ohio about 5 miles from where I work, but I don't know if it is open to the public or not.