Unlike the "big bang" growth of sales when cars entered the home in the 90s, China's auto market, which has undergone several rounds of upgrading, is transforming from "incremental competition" to "stock competition". At the same time, the wave of intelligent networking and new energy is leading the rapid transformation of the automobile industry, and the development of technology is bringing a new industrial inflection point, and brands that cannot keep up will be eliminated.
For Dongfeng Yueda Kia, a revolution is taking place. After reaching the peak of sales of 650,000 vehicles in 2016, Dongfeng Yueda Kia has encountered development bottlenecks in recent years, and problems such as the decline in brand power and the lack of explosive star products have also become urgent problems that need to be solved.
In 2022, Kia, which has been in the Chinese market for 20 years, is about to usher in the second phase of development, and Kia will rebrand based on the Turn-around strategy. In the face of the rapidly changing new market pattern, Kia stressed the need to start again in the Chinese market with the attitude of a new force startup, reshape the brand with a more Chinese attitude and action, increase investment in technology, products and other aspects, and better meet the needs of Chinese consumers.
Reinvent the new Kia brand from the inside out
In the increasingly competitive automotive market, brands have become a valuable asset for businesses. Brand is not only an important basis for consumers to choose products, brand competitiveness is also the key to enhance corporate image and increase brand premium ability.
In March 2021, Liu Changsheng was transferred to Dongfeng Yueda Kia and served as the general manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia. Chang-seung Yoo, former Vice President of Hyundai Motor Group (China), is an expert in brand building and development for Hyundai/Kia in China, and has accumulated extensive experience in the United States, South Korea and other markets. Hyundai Kia hopes that he can promote the rebranding and career transformation of Dongfeng Yueda Kia.
Liu Changsheng believes that in China, Kia brands urgently need to enhance brand power, need to form an efficient brand management system from the inside out, and launch new changes.
Internally, Kia will establish an efficient organizational management system, including the introduction of local talents who understand the Chinese market better, promote internal high-quality talents; at the market level, establish a sales system that can respond quickly to market changes; dealers, continue to promote the "retail-centric" business mode to achieve win-win and high-quality sustainable development with dealers; at the user level, under the guidance of the "customer-centric" brand concept, enhance the brand image through all-round changes. Provide customers with new products and value experiences, and strengthen online and offline integrated marketing for young consumers.
In the face of the rapidly changing market pattern, Kia will start again in the Chinese market with the new attitude of a new power startup. Referring to Kia's global successful experience and management methods, new changes began from within, including the global unified image of the brand, the implementation of the electrification strategy, the adjustment of the organizational structure, and the introduction of high-quality products, opening a new journey and allowing more people to discover the new Kia.
Listen more to the "voice of China"
For joint ventures, precise knowledge, understanding and pursuit of the user experience of Chinese consumers is crucial. Ignoring the real needs of Chinese consumers has become the real reason why many auto giants have encountered "water and soil dissatisfaction" in the Chinese market.
With the establishment of an efficient brand management system and the continuous improvement of its layout in China, Kia will release a new brand strategy with a "more Chinese" attitude, and further meet the needs of Chinese consumers and rebuild consumers' awareness of kia brands by introducing new technologies and new products.
On the product side, Kia will further optimize its product layout and introduce more global models to bring consumers a higher quality travel experience. In 2021, Kia launched the fourth generation of the Smart Run Ace and Kia's global flagship MPV, Jawa; in 2022, Kia plans to launch a new flagship SUV Sportage and K3 mid-term remodeling; in addition, it plans to introduce a hybrid version of the new model HEV to continuously enhance the brand image with high-value products and multiple choices.
In the field of electrification, Kia plans to launch more than one special electric vehicle model every year, expand the electric vehicle model matrix, meet the different needs of users, and accelerate the transformation and upgrading to an electrified brand. The E-GMP platform's first dedicated electric vehicle, the EV6, will soon be introduced into China.
In terms of technology, Kia will pay more attention to the needs of Chinese consumers and increase investment in technological strength in China, including the Yantai Technology R&D Center and the Shanghai Digital Technology R&D Center, which will be established in 2021, which will focus on industrial change trends, listen to the voices of Chinese consumers, and organically combine the world's hot products with The needs of Chinese consumers.
At the same time, in Kia's strategic layout, Kia will take the Yancheng base as an important hub for production and export, and help the sustainable development of Yancheng and even the Yangtze River Delta economy.
At the key juncture of 20 years of entering the Chinese market, a series of changes at Kia are being carried out intensively. Whether it is to establish an efficient organizational management system, or to reshape the brand image, or to introduce global system resources and increase investment in the Chinese market, Kia has launched a counter-offensive starting gun and opened a new stage of China's development.