Kia Motors Corporation has announced that its global sales figures for 2009 reached an all-time high of 1,651,920 units. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of 20.1%, cementing Kia’s position as one of the world’s fasting growing automakers. This comes after sister company Hyundai breached the three million unit mark for the first time in 2009 (up 11.6%), bringing the combined Hyundai-Kia total to over 4.75 million units sold.
By region, Kia posted year-on-year increases in China (256,732 units, up 69.9%), Korea (412,752 units, up 30.4%), North America (346,181 units, up 11.3%), Western Europe (242,288 units, up 7.7%) and general markets (304,522 units, up 16.2%). Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets was the C-segment Forte with 304,295 units sold.
We have previously commented on brands that provide value for money thriving in uncertain economic times, such as Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. While the Czech brand provides VW tech on the cheap, the Koreans are riding on improved design and quality plus their customary long warranties and lower purchase price.
But where are these increased sales coming from? At the expense of the guys at the top, of course. Toyota has just released its 2009 sales figures which saw a 13% drop to 7.81 million, and Detroit giants GM and Ford have been hurt by poor domestic performance. These companies will also face challenge from a motivated Volkswagen (6.29 million in 2009, up 1.1%), which aims to unseat Toyota by 2018.
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wow… bravo!
Go VW go!!!!
Where is Proton err?
Oh…. still waiting for the 500K production per year. Hopefully their business plan to produce 1M cars per year works. Then, open the market.
Proton ! READ THIS!!!
Must be the Forte doings. I'm willing to part with my altis for the forte 2.0 but then the new focus is just on the horizon.
In all honesty, I've never been a fan of Kia and Hyundai, but I have to bow in respect: these guys, in a span of 10 years, managed to offer designs, quality, security and performance on par with their western counterparts.
I say bravo to them and my next car might as well be a Kia or Hyundai: solid, safe and the warranty is a cherry on the cake!
Congrats and once again, I hope that our domestic automakers (ie Perodua and Proton) may once day score similar successes… or I should just keep dreaming!
cheap and quality car sell!
cheap and bad car like proton, cannot sell.
burn in hell proton!!!
let see if your proton lancer will be your final product before you go into history!!!
vnoz said,
January 25, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
Proton ! READ THIS!!!
———————————————————-
perodua didnt even make a car. they just rebadge!! OMG
I don't think the people in Proton will ever knows how to run a business globally. Period.
They still think and "dream" and "illusion" they can success sell outside Malaysia by what they are doing now. The management has no pride to sincerely roll out a made in Malaysia product or else it would not have such quality produced since its all about protect their own pocket suppliers of the Proton parts.
Dream on..we Malaysian end of the day are the sufferers as always under the name of national brand….pity us.
I wont doubt until 2020 we still in this shitty situation. Modern country? HA HA HA
Cheap and Cheerful are Hyundai and Kia!
Deservedly, all the quality and esthetics for a low price, the japs are beaten hands down on this one. ditto to the Koreans. But that will not be all, the koreans has a new generation of modern deisel engines coming with high standards and low emmision level, rather then expensive to run hybrids. More will come, Japan beware, you were forewarned.
PERODUA!!!!!!! U SHOULD READ THIS !!!!!
Hyundai selling double of KIA? But in Malaysia, its the opposite. I think KIA sells more than Hyundai.
Eh? am i in the right comment section? i thought this articles is about kia hyundai. paul didnt mention a single thing about proton…
edxdevil said,
January 25, 2010 @ 5:17 pm
vnoz said,
January 25, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
Proton ! READ THIS!!!
———————————————————-
perodua didnt even make a car. they just rebadge!! OMG
———————————-
Yeah, even a rebadge company can beat a self-claim kampung juara R&D, which spend donno how much tax payers money in term of R&D fund, EPF bla bla bla…
funny said,
January 25, 2010 @ 4:45 pm
cheap and quality car sell!
cheap and bad car like proton, cannot sell.
burn in hell proton!!!
let see if your proton lancer will be your final product before you go into history!!!
————————–
AGREE!! burn in hell PROTON!!!
"These companies will also face challenge from a motivated Volkswagen"
Just read in the news:
Volkswagen eyes new China plant to make Seat
SHANGHAI/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) (VOWG.DE) plans to build a fifth plant in China to secure its leadership in the world's largest car market, while taking on larger rival Toyota Motor Co (7203.T), a Chinese newspaper reported.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60J09020100…
sirimusa said,
January 25, 2010 @ 4:44 pm
In all honesty, I’ve never been a fan of Kia and Hyundai, but I have to bow in respect: these guys, in a span of 10 years, managed to offer designs, quality, security and performance on par with their western counterparts.
I say bravo to them and my next car might as well be a Kia or Hyundai: solid, safe and the warranty is a cherry on the cake!
Congrats and once again, I hope that our domestic automakers (ie Perodua and Proton) may once day score similar successes… or I should just keep dreaming!
—————————————————————-
Keep the facts right.
Read these facts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Motors
They got bankrupt once and acquired by Hyundai.
all the people! boycott f^^king proton! dont buy them! over priced + slow service .. my proton saga just bought not long ago, but it keep so d^^m noisy and ..gosh.. lazy to said it already.. please, people do something!
i actually prefer kia than hyundai…for some reason…design i guess…
wake up call for proton
FYI, Perodua is owned by Toyota. Somebody here need to update their brain or it's just that they have none??
amirad said,
January 25, 2010 @ 4:41 pm
Must be the Forte doings. I’m willing to part with my altis for the forte 2.0 but then the new focus is just on the horizon.
Keep the altis, it is a reliable and comfortable family car and just buy forte like i did (if you could afford both). These 2 cars have very different characteristics. if you are so used with altis, you will find a total contrast with forte and you may initially felt unease due to its sportiness handling and suspensions. after a while, it'll grow on you and you will love it and won't regret to keep both. it's like when you need easy ride you drive altis, when you need the attention you drive forte.
where is perodua our JUARA kampung.. best selling car in boleh land…
prrrfthhh
Finally the Koreans has arrived.Nowadays hyundai & Kia cars are better in terms of quality & design compare to their models in the last 10 years.I really like the Kia Forte.Very nice design & value for money.Too bad my salary doesnt allow me to get 1.Damn.
Sam said,
January 25, 2010 @ 6:36 pm
Eh? am i in the right comment section? i thought this articles is about kia hyundai. paul didnt mention a single thing about proton…
—————————————————
u are at right article, are you malaysian? why you not join them bashing their own car?
@ntiperodua said,
PERODUA!!!!!!! U SHOULD READ THIS !!!!!
======================================
Bro,
Weren't Perodua's sales were higher than Proton yet again this year? Hmmmm.
Re-badge or whatever, they still can sell more cars than Proton! Proton got everything from called R&D, test tracks, Lotus backings, Government backings, etc but still lose to a re-badged car-maker.
So if their ego is blinding them for not learning from Perodua, at least learn from these two Korean car-makers lah.
hmm.. i'm proud forte owner…
LOL!
i am a proud forte owner!
yeah~
my next car maybe Kia K7…
I vividly remember the Pony and Excel hatchbacks. Horrible little car, but that didn't stop Hyundai. That was in the late 80s and early 90s. Using mitsubishi drivetrains.
on each subsequent replacement model, they leaped ahead. Backed it with 10 year warranties, really aggressive product development and hell bent on improving refinement and reliability.
Fast forward some 20 years and the Koreans can be almost considered Japanese peers.
Why the Proton comparison? I'll tell you why, 20 years back, a Saga was better built than the Pony and Excel. In fact, it was a better car in every way. Both governments protect its industries. What failed proton is its management (or more accurately its political masters). Maybe perhaps is our malaysian work ethics….
For some reason I had a guessing that Proton would be bashed even though its not directly related to it.
VW want to overthrow Toyota? Hmm, can, the way VW keep eating up all car manufacturers along the way. Either that or it will be too big like GM and fall down badly. Another thing is Toyota has a very good multiplatform which lowers the cost. Sirocco, Veyron are money loosers for VW, but people still buy them. So far, only the LF-A for Lexus that is sapping up all toyota's money. Then again they only want to sell 500, so I guess there is a limit to how much money they can loose unlike Veyron and Sirocco which so far is unlimited in sales.
This reminds me of the PS3, Xbox360 consoles during launch where both companies made a loss on every product they sell.
If Hyundai-Kia keeps selling their cars cheaper than Toyota, people will migrate to those car makers. The Forte already big value for money. If all models undercut Toyota, why buy a Toyota right? Toyota's all look rounded and do not catch people's eye. Hyundai also seems to be going the same direction. Kia however looks different.
On another note, Proton's biggest die-hard fans are overseas. You can still see people in UK driving a proton. Aussie same as well. I really like what SZ mentioned:
"Malaysians want Japanese technology with European design but Malaysian prices".
I think sooner rather than later Proton need's to shift in the designwise and provide two tier car system. Saga, Savvy directly attacking Perodua while Gen2/Satria Neo/Waja going after Kia. I will concede that Perdana can be considered a "niche" product in their category even though it is used everywhere as government cars. Rebadging a Kia/Hyiundai Magentis/Genesis can work for proton. However, aside from Mitsubishi, I am not sure if other car makers will allow the rebadging since all car makers want to sell their own cars in malaysia now. Also, you have to remember that with every new launch, cars are getting bigger even though its the same name. The current 3 series is as big as the E39 so in that sense, Perdana is not actually that big. Of course the executive version with its longer wheelbase and plush rear seats are something else, but only few are using it. Courts, ministers, the rest all use the normal V6. Very big dillema here…
Kia and Hyundai has put a lot of work into making their cars feel refined without inflating its price.
Take for example a car buyer (usually the driver), the Driver interface is probably the one thing in the entire car that can't be cheaped out. The plastics of the streering wheel, the swith gear, the dashboad, the meter cluster, the arm rest, the door handles, the NVH….these are things that the driver touch and feels everyday. Make the driver feel he/she has bought a cheap feeling car, and your user satisfaction go downs the drain, making a repeat buyer or advocate less likely. I was very impressed with the Forte driver interface.
This is remains Protons weakness. Something that KIA/Hyundai has been working on very hard for the past 10 years. You can see it in each new model. Are they there yet? nope, but compared to cars 10 years back, its a vast improvement (even better than the lower end Asian market Japanese marques).
There is no dilemma, I will lead the Proton lovers thru this simple comparison, even rabid fanboys can follow wan:
(The two models being compared are the Forte 2.0 and Perdana)
Max power, Forte = 115 kW, Perdana = 110 kW
Max torque, F = 194 Nm, P = 179 Nm
Kerb weight, F = 1251 kg, P = 1336 kg
Price, F = RM93,800, P = RM101,485
Other features:
F = ABS + EBD, Traction/Stability Control, 6 Airbags, Keyless Entry + Start/Stop, Auto-headlights, Auto-dimming rear mirror, Cruise control
F = ABS + EBD, 2 Airbags. What else, oh yeah, their absolutely freaking amazing LOTUS RIDE AND HANDLING (said with lightning and thunder in the air hahaha)
So from the above, Forte has the power-to-weight advantage, it also has the price advantage, and a longer list of modern features. You would be totally, epically retarded to buy a Perdana when the Forte 2.0 goes on sale. But of course, Proton huggers won’t care for logic, eh? Lolz
Proton huggers will quickly point out that the Perdana's 2.0 V6 is a lot smoother than the Forte's inline 4…..FWIW, the Perdana isn't a bad car, just that its peers have moved on…..
But yeah, any of the new C-Segments Sedans out now makes for a more compelling reason than the 15 year old Perdana. If not for government purchases, the Perdana would be relegated to also ran a long time ago.
Proton needs to quickly re-think its product strategies and bring in suitably new models. The Exora and the Persona is a good start. Lets hope they keep the momentum.
It would seems that Hyundai/Kia is looking at taking on the Japanese rather than the other manufacturers. They managed to reduce costs due to their high volume and commonisation of components, plus new tecnologies at lower cost than the Japanese. This is the same scenerio back in the 70's and 80's (some of the bloggers here were not even born yet) when Japanese makers are attacking the continental cars with their cheap but relaible cars.
IMO in Malaysia Toyota and Honda has more reason to worry since the Koreans are more into B++ and C segment where they manage to gain more inroads than the A segment.
redxdevil said,
"perodua didnt even make a car. they just rebadge!! OMG"
Yeah and soon (again) Proton also rebadge Mitsu. So later on don't complaint as both Perodua and Proton do rebadge as Naza and the rest too.
Who is the worst rebadge will be shown in sales lah.
hope proton can consider to approach hyundai/kia as their business partner…
Wow! Everybody is praising Kia/ Hyundai. From zeroes to heroes. I too have to swallow my words. Before this would never give Korean cars a second glance. Now it is in my shopping list. But I will still keep my Japs car for the daily mundane routine.
Jarum said,
Bro,
Weren’t Perodua’s sales were higher than Proton yet again this year? Hmmmm.
Re-badge or whatever, they still can sell more cars than Proton! Proton got everything from called R&D, test tracks, Lotus backings, Government backings, etc but still lose to a re-badged car-maker.
So if their ego is blinding them for not learning from Perodua, at least learn from these two Korean car-makers lah.
==========================
prrrfthh stupid… boecoz p2 rebadge the car la then they are on the top.. if proton rebagde the car oso can be on the top.. even if under cherry tree comp. rebadge a honda.. jazz.. oso will be on the top..
if p2 build own car… sure worst than proton…prrrfthh..
somemore nothing to learn form p2 la…
all these are becoz our G policy
Our G ask proton to make own car
and our G allowed Daihatsu to buy p2 and got national car title..
Watch out for the Koreans! They're not just improving their cars, they're also looking at alternative energy for their cars and their country. One of it is the use of seaweed/algae/spirulina as bioethanol and biodiesel (and here we're only thinking palm oil and sugar cane and because of scarcity of land and demand by food industry, that didn't work out). Hats off to them for being forward thinking.
http://www.korea.net/News/Issues/issueDetailView….
Proton doesn't even offer basic things like thorax/head airbags and ESP (Electronic Stability Program) etcv. Its not like they don't have the tech, that would be excusable. Lotus cars comes with ESP. They just don't care and can't be bothered. Malaysia is a useless country. Only good at taking advantage of foreign workers. What's Malaysia's contribution to the world? Nothing. Thank god i am leaving this country.
u all guys must respect our national car proton,proton can use milo tin to make car,proton qc also the best,they check everything exepct power window,look at the korean guys how they doing