The chief executive of Kia America says that the car manufacturer has transformed itself over the past five years and is now attracting more affluent buyers than ever before, leading to a 60 percent rise in its average transaction price.
During a recent interview with Auto News, Sean Yoon said the company has come a long way since the introduction of the Telluride in March 2019, the first new model it launched under a revised long-term brand strategy. As such, Yoon no longer considers Kia to be a value brand.
“In terms of retail sales volume since 2018, excluding fleet, we grew by 31 percent, and our average transaction price increased 60 percent. A huge jump over the last five years,” he said. “We are seeing a lot more affluent buyers, and we are doing well with Gen Y and Gen Z buyers. That is a kind of guarantee for our bright future because the buying power used to be owned by Gen X, but now more weight is moving toward Gen Y and Z.”
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Although the average transaction price of new Kia models has jumped significantly since 2018, Yoon says the brand is “going to keep the value in our car” and will look to avoid bundling desirable options with less desirable ones. It will also roll out new safety systems without increasing prices.
Kia’s transformation is continuing into the electric age. It is differentiating itself from rivals with dramatic designs, evidenced by the EV6 and the all-new EV9 SUV. Yoon expects the company’s strong ICE sales to carry into EV sales and while the brand is only doing business in 60% of the. market, its share recently jumped from a touch over 3% to 5%.
The brand’s SUVs currently account for 80% of demand but according to Yoon, Kia has not yet reached the sales potential for models including the Sportage, Seltos, and Telluride. If sales of these models rise, Kia’s market share will too. The new EV9 is the company’s first electric SUV and soon, the smaller EV5 SUV will be added to its range, meaning things are certainly looking promising in the world of Kia, particularly in North America.
