The’proverb’ contains the wisdom and technique of our ancestors who have lived in Korean. These days, the content that would have been contained in a self-help book is compressed into one short sentence. However, in an era where the Internet and social media dominate the language environment, these proverbs are increasingly becoming relics of the old age.
Even the old saying, “There is no brother who only has an older brother,” is now proving that it is an era in which anyone can climb to a higher place through competition. Hyundai-Kia Motors can be mentioned as a representative example. Kia Motors has been steadily treated as a stand-up, and has had the fate of an older brother who cannot surpass his older brother, but these days, it is showing an aggressive move that seems to surpass his older brother. Today’s AutoPost Issue Plus goes one step further into the story of Kia Motors, which heralded a new start with the sign.
Written Joonyoung Park Editor
From’Kia Motors’ to’Kia’
Kia Motors declares a company name change
Kia Motors changes its name. Kia Motors CEO Song Ho-sung announced through an interview that “there will be an announcement related to the launch of a new brand from January next year.” The new mission is Kia Motors minus cars.
It is not common for automakers to change their mission. It is expected that consumers will not feel much different from the existing ones, as they will not change to a completely new name, but only subtract the word’car’.
Predicted from last year
The emblem is also replaced
Along with the mission, the emblem, which was predicted to be replaced from last year, will also be replaced with a new form. The trend in the global automobile market is to change from 3D to 2D emblems emphasizing the plane. This can be interpreted as part of a strategy for responding to future vehicle design in accordance with automobile digitalization and electrification. Existing 3D emblems have a disadvantage that it is difficult to properly implement a logo on a display screen that increases in size and is less intuitive.
Kia Motors unveiled the Imagine by Kia concept car at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show and unveiled a new type of emblem that was not previously seen. At that time, news spread that Kia Motors was finally changing the emblem, and netizens who confirmed it poured out various reactions. Eventually, after about a year, the new emblem trademark was registered, and Kia Motors officially announced its intention to replace the emblem, and it became true.
The signboard of the recent headquarters building
It was confirmed that it went down
It has been confirmed that the sign of the Kia Motors headquarters building has recently been down to replace the new mission and emblem that will appear from the beginning of next year. A look at a photo recently uploaded to the automotive community revealed that the Kia Motors emblem has disappeared from the Hyundai-Kia Motors office building in Yangjae-dong.
In the Hyundai-Kia Motors office building, which is called the twin towers of Korea, only the signboard of Hyundai Motor Company was attached intact, and the signboard of Kia Motors disappeared and only the straight figure remained. It is expected that a new signboard will be posted next year after revealing the new emblem and mission.
K5 beats the Sonata
Sorento beats Santa Fe
Impressive flagship model sales
Recently, Kia Motors has taken a very aggressive move, and this has worked well in the market, resulting in some flagship models beating rival Hyundai cars by sales volume. The new K5, a mid-sized sedan launched last year, completely overpowered the Sonata this year by sales volume and stood tall as the leading Korean mid-sized sedan.
Sorento, a mid-sized SUV, also crushed Santa Fe, which ranked first in domestic car sales last year, by sales volume. Sorento, which was transformed into a new model in March this year, boasted better product and design than Santa Fe. Accordingly, Hyundai Motor Company facelifted the Santa Fe facelift and opposed Sorento, but it was not enough to defeat Sorento’s shouts.
Simultaneous replacement of emblem and mission
‘Plan S’future mobility business
It’s a strategy to prepare
The reason Kia Motors is changing its emblem and company name at the same time is not limited to the automobile business anymore, but is a strategic move to prepare for the future mobility business included in’Plan S’. In particular, the emblem has been predicted to be changed since last year, but the news that the company is changing its name together, the automobile industry evaluated that “Kia seems to be following the paradigm of the automobile industry quickly.”
Looking at the core contents of Plan S, Kia’s mid- to long-term strategy, its main goal is to expand profitability by improving the structure of existing businesses and securing leadership in future businesses. By 2025, a total of 29 trillion won will be invested, with an operating margin of 6% and a return on equity of 10.6%. Specifically, it aims to have a full lineup of 11 electric vehicles by 2025, achieve a global market share of 6.6% and increase the proportion of eco-friendly car sales to 25%.
Related to the future car
Dozens of new trademarks have also been registered.
Kia Motors has been busy since the end of this year to achieve its goals. Dozens of new trademarks have been registered with the Intellectual Property Office right away from mid-month. Looking at the newly registered trademarks, it includes not only automobiles, but also trademarks for various means of transport that move through land, sea, and air, and it is predicted that it will advance into various mobility businesses by acquiring trademarks related to navigation and wireless networks.
The addition of robot hardware, fuel cell, aircraft-related patents, and energy processing industry patents gives an idea of what direction Kia’s future industry will go.
Exhibition halls and service centers,
New cars that are announced for release
New emblem is applied
What will happen if a new hunger is launched early next year? At the moment, Kia Motors’ exhibition halls, service centers, office buildings, and internal and external data are all revised. It is expected that it will take an astronomical amount to replace all emblems.
The new emblem is also applied to new cars that are announced for release. The first car to apply the new Kia emblem is the new K7, which welcomes full change. Recently, the name was changed to K8 and the news that it is going through high-end has been delivered, and many consumers are expecting it. The new emblem is also expected to be applied to the flagship sedan K9, which is facing facelift.
Through the promotion of bold new business
Corporate identity
A big change is coming
As can be seen from the new trademark rights registered by Kia Motors recently, Kia announced that a major change in the company’s identity itself will come by actively pursuing large new businesses in the future. The brand slogan also declared’Movement that inspires’ to become a company that aims for a wide range of movements away from the limited objects of cars.
What is important is that the sibling group has a slightly different direction than Hyundai Motor Company. Hyundai Motor Company is focusing on expanding new products by launching Ioniq, an eco-friendly electric vehicle brand, early next year. However, Kia Motors plans to secure competitiveness by focusing on the purpose-based mobility market by catching new demand expansions such as the car sharing economy and e-commerce.
Hyundai should be nervous
The situation may unfold
If Kia’s Plan S strategy works properly and cruises, it could eventually lead to a situation where Hyundai would have to be tense. Looking at the current atmosphere in 2020, some of the flagship lineups are already ahead of Hyundai Motors, and Kia Motors has settled the family look well in design, but it is said that Hyundai Motors has not yet taken the proper direction.
As a result, some netizens began to appear, saying, “Now let’s be Kihyun, not Hyungi” and claiming that Kia is better than Hyundai in every way. If Kia Motors is ahead of Hyundai Motors in terms of future business, it could be Kia Hyundai Motors rather than Hyundai Kia Motors, as netizens said.
“It’s great to make a nice and nice car”
Netizens sending messages of support
Many netizens sent a message of support when Kia Motors announced that it would change its company name and introduce a new emblem and focus on new business. “I wish I could make a nice and good car”, “The only thing I can trust now is Kia”, “I’m a big hit because I made a good car”, “I praise Kia for changing its emblem early in the electric car era”, “The national prestige for being prominent in the world market I hope that it will be a good company.”
New cars launched by Kia this year are showing success in succession, and netizens are also showing a more favorable response toward Kia than Hyundai. Thanks to this good atmosphere, if the emblem and mission change exert a synergy effect, it can be expected that good results can be produced.
“Now is not the time to change the emblem”
It is more important to strengthen
Claiming consumers
However, there were also areas of concern as much as consumers’ high expectations. This is because not all netizens responded positively to the news that Kia Motors is changing its mission and emblem.
Some people say, “Isn’t it time to change the emblem?”, “The car in the future is good, but let’s make it well with the internal combustion engine car we’re making”, “The car that comes out now has a lot of problems, but I don’t want to imagine what kind of defects the electric cars that will come out”, “In the global market In order to show prominence, I want you to focus on strengthening your inner self.”
With the emblem
Quality service should also be improved
Like the reaction of netizens, Hyundai-Kia Motors continues to suffer from quality and defects occurring in most of the new cars launched this year. A problem is also pointed out as a problem by the manufacturer’s actions that fail to properly resolve the defect and engender consumers in anger with an irresponsible attitude.
Given this situation, many netizens responded, saying, “It is good to change the emblem, but we need to improve the quality service first.”
To improve the shortcomings
The better part is to develop
Will have to show
Given that there were many netizens supporting Kia Motors’ new challenge, while there were also many netizens who showed dissatisfaction with the current situation, Kia Motors should definitely improve the areas that it is doing well and improve the areas that it is doing well.
In order to become a great company that can be recognized in the global market, it must first be recognized by domestic consumers, which are a solid foundation. It is necessary to reflect on the reason why netizens’ reactions to Kia Motors, which are making an enterprising move, are not as friendly. No, I finish the article by recalling the old saying that there is no smoke in the chimney. It was Auto Post Issue Plus.
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