Capital increase of $900 million Kia's new joint venture with Yueda is targeting which outlets

Following the transfer of dongfeng's shares at the end of 2021, the old "Dongfeng Yueda Kia" became history, and Kia and Yueda began to start a new business. Recently, South Korea's Kia Co., Ltd. signed an expansion investment agreement with Yancheng People's Government and Jiangsu Yueda Group.

Witnessed by Song Husheng, President of Kia Co., Ltd., Zhou Bin, Acting Mayor of Yancheng City Government, Zhang Naiwen, Chairman of Jiangsu Yueda Group, and Liu Changsheng, General Manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, Kia and Yueda reached a consensus on "expanding investment cooperation" and planned to form a new joint venture company.

It is understood that the new joint venture company plans to increase capital by 900 million US dollars, and rapidly increase vehicle sales and capacity utilization rates by expanding investment, introducing new models, developing new energy vehicles, and setting up export bases. As planned, the new company will officially release its company name in April this year.

Statistics show that since entering China in 2002, Kia has sold nearly 6 million vehicles, driving the development of the local auto parts industry.

Kia said that the new joint venture will focus on promoting the introduction of global strategic models and new energy vehicles. The new models launched this year will be equipped with a large number of safety configurations and new technology configurations to further enhance product performance and market competitiveness, and together with models on sale such as Jawa and SmartCar Ace, kia's global strategic model lineup will be improved.

As the biggest outlet of China's auto market in recent years, new energy vehicles are undoubtedly the key tracks for the new joint venture company to focus on. The reporter learned that from 2023 to 2027, starting from the new pure electric vehicle EV6, Kia will launch a new electric vehicle model in the Chinese market every year, and gradually build a new EV matrix of 6 electric vehicles.

At the same time, Kia will also actively carry out innovative marketing activities to show Chinese consumers the vision of "New Kia" and sustainable future business. In addition, the new terminal image system will be applied to all 4S stores and city showrooms, so that everyone can feel the new Kia brand image.

According to public data, in 2021, Hyundai Kia sold 6.87 million vehicles worldwide, ranking fourth in the world. Among them, Kia's global sales volume was 2.777 million units, an increase of 6.5% year-on-year. Clearly, Kia can't stand the market performance in China in recent years, and there is an urgent need to bring the Chinese business to the same height as the global business. Over the next decade, Kia has set a target of more than 4 million vehicles in China.

It is worth noting that the new joint venture company will build a new organizational structure, establish an innovative organizational culture, actively introduce local talents and professionals, and accelerate the localization work.

"2022 coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea and the 20th anniversary of Kia's brand entry into China, and it is also a key year for Kia to deepen its strategy of brand renewal and 2045 carbon neutrality." A relevant person from Kia said: "Kia will accelerate the landing of the 'Global Kia' image in the Chinese market, and form a more efficient decision-making process through organizational structure adjustment, solidly promote the development of various businesses, and start again in the Chinese market." In the future, Kia will continue to deepen its efforts in the Chinese market and explore the most suitable management system for the Chinese market. ”

"We will fully support Kia's expansion of sales in the Chinese market and support the export trade of Kia's Yancheng plant to help Kia grow in China." The relevant person in charge of the Yancheng government said that at present, Yancheng is Kia's only production base in China, and Yancheng will continue to serve as the base for its future business in China. (China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Xu Yajie)

Source: China Youth Daily client