I was invited on a brand immersion trip to San Diego by Kia, which is where I learned this information. Kia paid my expenses but did not require me to post and all opinions are my own. #TheNewKia
I love a good underdog story. And believe it or not, just ten years ago, that’s exactly what Kia’s story is. Way back in 1994, Kia held their first press conference in the United States. Not one person showed up. Years went by and they started gaining more traction, but by the mid-2000’s they were still at the very bottom. They committed to change, and got to work.
Kia developed a 10-year plan that started with bringing in a new designer. In 2006, they named Peter Schreyer Chief Design Officer, and he came up with what’s called the “Tiger Nose”. It is the name for the grille on the front of Kia vehicles, and it’s what helped them start to stand out among the crowd.
In addition to coming up with a more memorable design, Kia’s 10-year plan included investing in the United States. Since 2002, Kia has invested over $2.5 billion in North America, between their headquarters, design studio, and manufacturing plants. Their factory in West Point is responsible for the creation of more than 15,000 U.S. jobs- at a time where we needed those jobs the most. Today, around 40% of Kia vehicles sold in the United States are made right here in the U.S.
Of course, investing domestically and coming up with an amazing design were important parts of the 10-year plan- but let’s be honest, none of that would have mattered if the cars sucked. Luckily, the 10-year plan also included a huge concentration on quality, which comes through loud and clear on each and every model in today’s vehicle lineup.
Kia was having a bit of an identity crisis in the mid-aughts, so the final major prong of that plan was to foster partnerships that made sense for the brand and helped them raise awareness- and change perception- of what their brand had to offer. They’ve had some hilarious commercials with celebrities {like this Melissa McCarthy one that just gets me every time}, they’ve sponsored sports like the NBA, the LPGA, and more.
They’ve also started a program called B.R.A.K.E.S. {Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe} that gives soon-to-be-drivers and new-drivers a place to learn safety skills behind the wheel of a car in a safe place. The program is free for kids and parents and they don’t make a profit from it- unless you consider the gratitude of nervous parents putting their kids on the road- and likely many, many avoided accidents. {Although really, those things are priceless.}
It’s hard to say if any one thing really did the most to change the perception of Kia’s brand over the last decade and a half. Of course, none of it would have worked with an ugly car. But a great design wouldn’t matter without a car with actual quality and substance. None of that would have mattered if nobody gave the new Kia a shot. But thankfully, all of those parts were put in motion together and Kia rose from the very bottom of the barrel to the very top.
The new Kia is the #1 in the entire industry in initial quality, #1 in the entire industry for number of owner satisfaction awards, the #1 non-luxury brand in vehicle satisfaction, #5 in the entire industry in reliability, one of the top six car brands in the entire industry, and has better customer service than Toyota, VW, Honda, Ford, Mazda, and more. {For sources, enlarge the photo above.} Last year, Kia broke a 27 year record and became the first non-luxury brand to top the J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study.
After spending a couple of days this week in San Diego test driving cars like the Kia Niro and the Kia Optima Hybrid, I can honestly say that Kia just gets it. They’ve really figured out who they are and who their consumers are and they’ve taken that knowledge and produced a line of beautiful vehicles that has something for everyone.