Kia India Entry Could be Announced by Q1 2017

2017 Kia Rio

Kia India could be targeting break Maruti Suzuki’s small car market dominance; Tamil Nadu has offered 400 acres for setting up plant

South Korean small carmaker Kia is finalizing the decision about its entry into Indian market. The company could officially announce its decision by Q1 next year. Kia Motors eyes the small car market in the country, which is presently dominated by Maruti Suzuki. State like Tamil Nadu has already offered 400 acres of land to the company, for setting up its manufacturing plant.

Once entered into the domestic market, Kia Motors will start producing around 2.5 lakh cars per year and it could also increase production volume at later stage. Reports suggest that, the company is now finalizing details of product line-up, production, sales and marketing strategies for India. The company is expected to announce its entry into the country market by next 6 months.

Kia-Picanto

Also read: Kia Eyes Maruti Suzuki with Localized Manufacturing

The Kia models would be on sale in domestic market within next 2-3 years, as the company will need some time to set-up the production plant and sales network. Kia Motors is a part of Hyundai group, but it will sell the new cars under its own badge only. Also the Korean brand will have its own sales network as well. Apart from Tamil Nadu, other states like Andhra Pradesh and Telengana has also showed interest about hosting the Kia plant.

India is one of the largest and fast-growing car market in world and small cars dominate the country’s auto market. Kia being the maker of several stylish and sporty small urban cars, doesn’t want to ignore such a vast market. It has already set up a Research and Development centre in Hyderabad, which has gone operational. This R & D center will mainly focus on design of India-spec Kia cars.

KIA Soul

Also read: Tamil Nadu Offers 400 Acres to Kia Motors Plant

Presently Kia Motors’ global production capacity is more than 3 million units per year, while its parent group Hyundai has a global production capacity of 5 million vehicles annually. Hyundai has a strong base in the domestic market and it also sells a range of cars across different segments. With the new small car brand, it wants to throw an assault to the largest car maker of the country.

Source: ET