| VIEW FROM THE TOP
BRAND AWARENESS PAYS OFF FOR RELATIVE NEWCOMER HORACIO CHÁVEZ Managing Director of Kia Motors México
Q: What key challenge did Kia face as a new entrant in the
in Mexico must be ready to adapt to the needs of our
Mexican market?
customers and what they want from us as a brand.
A: The biggest challenge has certainly been brand 168
awareness. Two years ago, we were an unknown player
Digitalization has been a key part of our strategy from the
but now we are among the 10 most popular brands in the
beginning. We are among the three main companies in
market. We came into the market as a vibrant alternative
Mexico in terms of Facebook followers and we are among
for the Mexican consumer and we had a strong focus
the Top 5 regarding Twitter. Most of our marketing efforts
on differentiating our offering. Still, we did not expect
are oriented toward social media. As an Official Partner
this kind of welcome since our initial objectives were
to the Russia World Cup 2018, we have organized several
conservative compared to the results we have obtained.
activities to take clients, journalists and partners to the
We implemented an aggressive marketing strategy to
event and we have done all this through social media.
make people aware of our products before we launched
We organized a kids’ soccer tournament featuring 90
them. We created high expectations and when people
teams. The final was held at the Azteca Stadium and the
arrived at our dealerships, they were surprised at what
winning team travelled to the World Cup. We also held
they found.
the Champ to the Arena contest in collaboration with Anahuac University, in which several teams played against
We have not let our guard down and we are relying on our
each other to select a winner that played against other
strong offering. Our cars have an attractive design, they
international teams in Russia.
are well-equipped, price competitive and offer high quality supported by our seven-year or 150,000km warranty.
Q: How are you navigating the global change in preference
Furthermore, we listened to our customers through social
toward SUVs and larger vehicles?
media and we adapted our strategy based on their opinions.
A: The Mexican market is changing along with the rest of
We moved many of our launches up some months or one
the world. The compact segment, however, is today the
year in an effort to keep up with market demand. Our
largest in Mexico. The volume opportunity is there and we
dealerships have also played a crucial role in building our
are pleased to have local production of two of our compact
reputation in Mexico. We wanted to have big, attractive
models: the Kia Forte and the Kia Rio. The former began
showrooms that represented our image as an important
production in 2016 and the latter in 2017. By the end of
brand and a key competitor in this market.
February 2018, Rio stood in first place of the hatchback B segment, while the sedan version made it to the fifth place
Q: What role does innovation play in your market strategy,
in the B segment. Forte, on the other hand, reached third
both in your portfolio and operations?
place in the hatchback C segment, while the sedan version
A: Our mid and long-term plans are focused on innovation,
ended in fourth place in the sedan C segment.
both with our products and our strategy for the market. Kia manufactures its vehicles in several locations around
Having said that, the SUV market is the one that is growing
the world and the company is looking to be one of the
in Mexico, especially in the B and C segments, and we have
main innovators in the industry. Meanwhile, our operations
a strong offering with the Kia Soul, the Kia Sportage and the Kia Sorento. The latter was originally our best-selling model, but it has been displaced by Rio. Soul is among the
Kia Motors was founded in December 1944 as Kyungsung
Top 5 best-sellers in its segment, Sportage is in second
Precision Industry, initially manufacturing bicycles. The company
place and Sorento leads the C segment. Our strategy with
began producing cars in the 1970s. It has since joined forces
Sorento was to offer what no other brand had brought to
with Hyundai to create the Hyundai-Kia automotive group
the market before, which was a four-cylinder C-segment
