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Marketing Mix of Kia Motors analyses the brand/company which covers 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) and explains the Kia Motors marketing strategy. As of 2020, there are several marketing strategies like product/service innovation, marketing investment, customer experience etc. which have helped the brand grow.
Marketing strategy helps companies achieve business goals & objectives, and marketing mix (4Ps) is the widely used framework to define the strategies. This article elaborates the product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies used by Kia Motors.
Let us start the Kia Motors Marketing Mix & Strategy:
Kia Motors Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Kia Motors marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Kia Motors is one of the leading car manufacturing companies. Kia is majorly a car manufacturing company and it also manufactures commercial vehicles, which are the products in its marketing mix strategy. Kia Motors also has wing which produces military vehicles for the Government of South Korea.
In the car segment Kia Motors has basically compact cars, sedans, crossovers & minivans, hybrid and electric, special edition cars and concept cars. Some of the popular brands are Optima, Rio, Picanto, Sorento, Cerato, Carnival, Soul, Sportage and Cadenza. Kia Motors also has a 5 door variants for certain sedans such as Cerato and Rio. In the commercial vehicles segment Kia Motors has mini trucks
Kia Motors has been building its brand on quality and design and advantage of the 10 year warranty period at affordable prices. Kia also tries to build upon the overall ride quality and experience by using innovation and R&D centres.
Image: pixabay
Kia Motors Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Kia Motors marketing strategy:
Kia Motors follows a competitive pricing strategy in its marketing mix when it had been in South Korea. But as it has stepped into the global frontier and exports vehicles from the manufacturing plants itself. Due to this it charges higher prices in other countries such as US, in various parts of UK, parts of Africa. Even the cheapest car Rio is priced at $14000. Kia Motors also is not providing very competitive discounts as its counterparts such as Nissan after it has gained brand value in various parts of the world. As the company is expanding ambitiously and upscaling its flagship cars and its other brands, it is trying to move up the ladder of the price range. But Kia Motors is still not as competitive as compared to the traditional brands. Kia also maintains price gaps between the ranges of products it is selling so that the brand segments don’t overlap.
Kia Motors Marketing Strategy comprises of not only its Marketing Mix, but also segmentation, targeting, positoning, competition and analysis like SWOT. Also read Kia Motors SWOT Analysis, STP & Competitors
Kia Motors Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy of Kia Motors:
Kia Motors has got a network of around 4000 dealers globally which serve to the 170+ countries. This has helped in gaining sales in excess of 3 million units. There are 20 regional headquarters which look after 342 sales offices. Kia Motors has also got a network of 11 shopping offices across the globe which are strategically placed and able to cater to Europe, America, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions. There is also a huge network of 20 regional service centres and 243 comprehensive service provider across the globe as Kia Motors provides a long duration of warranty. It majorly manufactures cars in South Korea itself and others coming from China, Slovakia and USA plant. Kia Motors has also got 3 R&D centres which look after reengineering the ride experience and provide innovative design in form concept cars. It has also got Technical centres which help in enhancing the safety ratings and efficiency and overall ride quality. The customers get by Kia cars through its dealers only.
The commercial vehicle segment are also reached through dealers itself.
Kia Motors Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Kia Motors marketing strategy is as follows:
Kia Motors has a strong advertising and marketing policy. Kia has gained recently recognition because of its association with various major sports events happening around the globe in its marketing mix promotional strategy. Kia Motors had sponsored Australian Open along with other events. It also sponsors major football events such as the FIFA and UEFA cup also basketball events of NBA and Women’s NBA. Kia Motors uses TV, print, online ads, billboards etc for its marketing. It also has also tied up with various sports teams and athletes for gaining recognition. Kia Motors also has tied up with celebrities to again tell its story of resurgence. It also showcases quality, design and safety features in various motor shows which wins it laurels which faith for the customer and gains brand reputation. It also promotes itself on various online platforms with the ‘Share #Kia’ campaign. Kia also participates in various CSR activities to show its global concern for environment and society. Kia has tied up with various NGOs, governments, local communities and employee volunteering to support its stakeholders. It has tried to help by donating vehicles for the handicapped and supporting college students. Hence, this covers the marketing mix of Kia Motors.
Kia Soul Car Price In India Rupees
About Kia Motors:
Kia Motors is an Asian automobile manufacturer company based in Seoul, South Korea. It originated in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a bicycle manufacturing company. It was renamed to Kia Industries in 1952. It launched its first car, Brisa in 1974. Kia Motors has been through various ups and downs because of various local factors and the big Asian Financial where it had declared its bankruptcy. It then hit a deal with Hyundai Motors where mutual ownership was agreed upon. Currently Hyundai Motors owns almost 34% of Kia Motors and in return Kia also holds minor holdings in many Hyundai subsidiaries. It has made its presence in 172 countries worldwide. It is currently valued at $6.3 Billion and is ranked 69th in Interbrand Best Global Brands 2016. Kia Motors has won time again various awards in consumer satisfaction, design and lifestyle segments. It also achieved high safety ratings for various segments too.
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The production facility at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, which has an annual capacity of 3 lakh units, is also equipped to produce electric vehicles.
New entrant Kia Motors has an electric vehicle (EV) ready in India but the company has no plans to launch it anytime soon due to low consumer demand, owing to lack of charging infrastructure and high cost of vehicles.
Manohar Bhat, vice-president and head for sales and marketing, Kia Motors India, said charging infrastructure and policy for EVs impact the consumer demand more than anything else. “We are still not clear on these two aspects. Currently, there are hindrances like lack of charging stations, cost of the battery and technology and no clarity of EV policy,” Bhat told FE.
The Indian arm of the South Korean automaker has readied an electric car — Soul — which can cover around 450 km on a single charge. The production facility at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, which has an annual capacity of 3 lakh units, is also equipped to produce electric vehicles.
Batteries account for nearly 40% of the total vehicle cost and the import of lithium ion cells, major component of the battery, by all the manufacturers makes electric vehicles costlier than the global standards.
Bhat says Soul is a proven vehicle and is running in Europe and the US. “We don’t want to launch the vehicle just for show purpose, which will sell just about few 100 units. Rather, we would first think of utilising the plant capacity properly.”
Even as the government has been pushing for adoption of EVs, these account for less than 1% of the total vehicles sold in India. The government has also promised subsidies to companies building the charging stations but high costs involved in making them and low volumes are keeping the firms on the backfoot. According to Economic Survey 2018-19, there are around 650 charging stations across the country, including those for two-wheelers, significantly less than over 3 lakh points in China.
Moreover, incentives provided by the government under the FAME scheme do not include cars for private buyers.
Manufacturers, however, have been showcasing their products. While Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) have Tigor EV and eVerito electric cars, Hyundai has premium electric car Kona for personal buyers, priced around Rs 24 lakh. Tigor EV and eVerito are priced around Rs 11 lakh.
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