With the expected benefits of lower tariffs on vehicle imports from Korea, Kia Philippines is riding out the sustained recovery of the automotive industry by introducing more models and expanding its dealership network.
Kia yesterday kicked off the year with the launch of a refreshed Carnival, now a 7-seater grand utility vehicle, the first of model launches for the year. Two models will be launched in the third quarter.
Manny Aligada, Kia Philippines president, said the industry will hit 345,000 units in sales this year, an 18-percent growth from 2021.
Of that number, Kia expects to sell 6,000 units or a 1.7 percent market share. That would be a 60-percent jump from 3,748 units sold in 2021, when the brand’s sales grew 76 percent.
Aligada said sales this year would continue to be driven by the Stonic, Soluto and K2500.
He added Kia expects to add 7 more dealerships to end 2022 with 46 and totaling to 50 by next year.
According to Aligada, Kia expects the finalization of the Korea-Philippines free trade agreement in the next few weeks.
He said the reduction to 5 percent of tariffs on automotive puts Kia in a position to be more active as it sources all its vehicles from Korea.
The all-new Kia Carnival is now positioned to executives and their families. Prices range from P2.54 million to P2.998 million. – Irma Isip
