In April 2017, Kia Motors announced that it is looking to setup 600-acre facility in Penukonda in Ananatapur district as the location is strategically present in southern Andhra Pradesh and is very close to HMIL’s Sriperumbudur plant. Post this, the South Korean carmaker signed a MOU with the Andhra Pradesh Government for the same. With this plant, Kia Motors India plans to produce around 3 lakh units annually.
In totality, Kia Motors plans to invest around $2 billion for Plant setup and for creating supplier base. The marketing budget will be out of this figure. Kia is looking to roll out its first car model by second half of 2019 as the plant will be operational in 2019.
Kia Motors aims to launch a mid-size SUV on the likes of Hyundai Creta followed by, a mix of sedans, hatchbacks and SUVs. This will surely eat up Hyundai Creta’s market share.
Globally, Kia Motors is an iconic brand and has strong presence in 180 nations worldwide till now. They were missing out a great market in India, which has now been conquered. Kia’s India Strategy will strongly be aligned to its Global one, quality product, strong dealership network for which Kia will strive to achieve over 100 touch-points by 2022 and the selection process will end in September this year and lastly, strong marketing communication.
Kia Motors hopes to become a strong brand in Indian market as well, as its affiliate and group company Hyundai Motors has done since it entered India in 1998.
