By Michael Choo
Deputy General Manager
Overseas Communication Team

Kia’s presence at this year’s Australian Open, its ninth consecutive year as the major sponsor of the first grand slam of the professional tennis calendar, has put the spotlight on consumers through the inaugural Kia Lucky Drive to Australia hospitality program.

A total of 52 fortunate customers from 16 countries were selected through local test drive/showroom visit promotions to enjoy a full-expenses paid trip to Melbourne for a once in a lifetime chance to view some of the most exciting athletes in the world as they vie for a place in the Australian Open finals. In addition to courtside seats at the thrilling Serena Williams versus Li Na women’s semi-final match which ended in a nail biting double tiebreaker (7-6, 7-6) win for the American Williams, Lucky Drive winners also had a chance to tour the beautiful city of Melbourne and take part in an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the legendary Melbourne Park tennis venue hosted by Tennis Australia – the governing body of the Australian Open. The program will culminate tonight with courtside viewing of the second men’s semi-final match between the dynamic fist-pumping Wilfried Tsonga of France against world no. 1 and 15-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer of Switzerland.

By opening the doors to the fantastic experience of the Australian Open to customers around the world, Kia hopes to further win the hearts of the true champions behind the success of Kia Motors in recent years – the everyday consumers who have given consideration to the Kia brand by visiting our showrooms and taking a test spin in one of our new generation of quality and stylish vehicles.

With the Australian Open 2010 now reaching yet another climactic finish, we will soon turn our attention to Kia’s sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM. And with various promotional activities now getting underway, we look forward to spreading the excitement of sports to even more lucky customers this summer at the world’s most captivating sporting competition. For more information on Kia’s promotional programs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, please check out our microsite at http://fifaworldcup.kiamotors.com.

Good luck and hope to see you in South Africa!

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By Kia Motors America Public Relations team

Kia Motors America pitched its line of new vehicles at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this week and had some fun in front of more than 600 audience members during a packed press conference. Showcasing the new UVO powered by Microsoft® infotainment system, the new motorsports program and the impressive vehicle launches from 2009, including Soul, Forte, Forte Koup and Sorento, Kia used the well-known TV pitchman Anthony “Sully” Sullivan to deliver the news. From a 360-degree set with audience members viewing from every angle, the energy was evident and the journalists were excited by all of the activity and clever approach to the delivery.

NAIAS also marked the debut of the all-new special edition Shadow Dragon Soul (photo above) to an audience intrigued by the vehicle and Hamster that was at the wheel. Prior to the press conference, two awards were presented to Kia: FAMA’s Small Car of the Year Award for the Kia Soul and the award for Motor Trend’s top 10 automotive ad campaigns, presented by Visible Measures. To watch snippets of the press conference, check out the YouTube video below.

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By Michael Choo
Deputy General Manager
Overseas Communication Team

The Middle East was Kia’s fastest growing sales region in 2008 and has tallied over a 35% rise in sales through November 2009. So as the financial, trade and leisure Mecca of the region, Dubai was the perfect setting for the Kia Cadenza Exclusive Preview Event held on December 14th at the 5-Star Dubai Monarch hotel on the eve of the 2009 Dubai Motor Show. Kia Motors Corporation, in conjunction with our distributor in the UAE, Al Majid Motors Company, treated a guest list filled with influential members of society including royal family, representatives of some of the biggest business and government interests in the region, and media to a sneak preview at Kia’s latest quantum leap in its ongoing brand transformation.

Preview dinner event attendees get the first up-close look at the Cadenza.

In addition to the Cadenza project manager from Namyang R&D Center, Chung-Yul Hwang, on hand to give a thorough briefing of all the performance, convenience, safety and cutting-edge technological features of the Cadenza, the event was highlighted by Kia’s Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer’s first ever visit to the dynamic city of Dubai to give a behind the scenes talk on his design philosophy and the design elements of the Cadenza.

Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer gives a talk on Kia’s evolving design direction.

The initial response was encouragingly favorable with many commenting that the vehicle possesses a high level of emotional qualities unlike previous Kia models. With luxury cars being the norm in the Gulf, the Cadenza is first Kia that stands to compete head-on with many established premium brands from Europe and Japan. Sales of the Cadenza will commence in the Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America from March 2010.

The Cadenza on the stand at the 10th Dubai International Motor Show.
Click below to watch a video sketch of the Exclusive Preview Event and the Kia stand at the Dubai Motor Show.

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By Kia Advanced Design Team


※ Editor’s note: Please click on image(s) to view in larger size.

1. What is the purpose of holding such an event at the headquarters’ lobby?

The artistic creativity and imagination of Kia Motors designers were on display at Kia Design Artworks during the recent Gwangju Design Biennale. The works were based on a wide range of themes and reflected the broad imagination and experiences of our designers. The finished art pieces serve to inspire new automotive designs.

The feedback from visitors to the Biennale exhibit, ranging from university students studying design, to professional designers, was overwhelmingly positive. Accordingly, we brought the display to head office so that employees and other citizens could also enjoy the pieces.
We also hoped it would serve as a venue for PR communications.

2. What were the opening hours of the exhibit?

The exhibit was open from 7:30 to 18:30 and ran November 9~20 (following the Gwangju Design Biennale).

3. How many designers participated in the exhibit?

All 90 Kia designers participated in the exhibit through solo or group projects and expressed their individuality and imagination.

4. It must have been hard for designers to spare time to prepare for the exhibit. Were there any memorable stories related to the preparations?

Kia designers were very busy creating new car designs but they were also eager to display their artistic talents through their own artwork. The pieces were created with readily available materials like hanji (Korean paper), wires, glass and wood that are also easy to work with. Most of all, because designers had free reign over their pieces and had so much fun during the process, they used whatever free time they had after completing their duties and also devoted personal time.

Although there were some initial concerns over the diversity of the pieces and how they would come together in the end, we were pleasantly surprised to see that they complemented each other and were enjoyed by visitors.

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By Hong-Jae Kim
Deputy General Manager
Overseas Promotion Team

Hello to all Kia blog readers!

My name is Hong-Jae Kim and in charge of sports marketing activities (like the FIFA World Cup™ and Australian Open) at Kia headquarters in Seoul. Today, I’d like to talk about the FIFA World Cup™ in regards to the impending Final Draw which marks the start of the official countdown to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ tournament.

Since the inaugural edition, held in Uruguay in 1930, 18 tournaments have been staged (although two were cancelled in 1942 and 1946). The FIFA 2010 World Cup™ will be the first time that Africa hosts the event. With some 200 days left before the opening match, the complete line-up of teams for next year’s tournament was decided on the 18th.

The qualifying stage began in August 2007. For 27 months, tears of joy and disappointment flew around the world as teams battled it out on the pitch to secure a berth in South Africa. Thirty-two countries made the cut, including Brazil, which has never missed a FIFA World Cup™, North and South Korea, who have never gone to the FIFA World Cup™ at the same time; and Algeria, which booked their place after beating Egypt in a tense playoff after the two countries tied in their group.

Traditional football powerhouses like Portugal also squeezed into the final stage after drama-charged playoffs. Fans can thus look forward to a spectacular showdown between international football stars in South Africa next year.

The Final Draw, which is expected to attract just as much attention from fans as the opening game, will be broadcasted live online through the official website of FIFA (www.fifa.com).

Just to give you some perspective, some 4,000 guests and 1,000 media professionals watched the Final Draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. It also attracted a TV audience of 300 million individuals in 150 countries.

With the composition of the groups having a significant impact on the outcome of the knockout round, much attention will be focused on which countries form the ‘Group of Death.’

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the grouping of the Netherlands, Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire and Serbia-Montenegro grabbed headlines. At the 2002 World Cup Korea/Japan, Group F was infamous for featuring England, Argentina, Sweden and Nigeria, prompting many to call it the worst grouping in FIFA World Cup™ history.

Kia is proud to be an official automotive partner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. We’re holding a fun online event right now in which you can win tickets to the opening match in Johannesburg by predicting the outcome of the Final Draw. Visit our corporate homepage or our FIFA World Cup™ promotional site (http://fifa2010.kiamotors.com) to submit your entries before December 3.

Best of luck to all 32 teams with the Final Draw and the main tournament. And finally, I hope that Kia BUZZ readers will continue to show support and interest in our FIFA World Cup™ marketing activities.

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