Two weeks ago, we found out that Kia was moving to a principal-led model in Malaysia with the establishment of Kia Sales Malaysia (KSM), and now that company has been officially launched at an event in Bamboo Hills on Wednesday. Taking over from the previous distributor, the Bermaz-owned Dinamikjaya Motors, the firm formally introduced its leadership consisting of president and CEO Hyung Ho Kim and managing director Emily Lek.
At the event, KSM unveiled its plan to “Be Unstill”, promising to bring the Korean brand back into relevance. Having made a splash in the late 2000s thanks to models like the Forte, Kia began to struggle in the local market in the mid-2010s, as the brand’s move upmarket, coupled with low resale values and sluggish product rollouts, caused buyers to retreat to more familiar Japanese rivals.
This trend continued in the 2020s with the rise of value-focused Chinese brands – a phenomenon that Lek ironically played a big role in, having been instrumental in establishing Omoda & Jaecoo Malaysia as a major force as its vice president. Now playing for the Korean team, she will help KSM achieve sustainable growth through “innovation and enhancing customer experiences.”
The company’s strategy will focus of three main pillars – Return, Rebuild and Reposition. The first phase of reentry has already begun, with a marketing strategy that takes on consumer skepticism head on by answering the question, “Why Kia?” Next, KSM intends to rebuild its dealer network “beyond hardware and
infrastructure,” with a clear goal of enhancing customer peace of mind.
Lastly, the company will be repositioning its lineup by selecting new products that suit the needs of the Malaysian market. It did not provide any details of what those cars would be, but the company did showcase Dinamikjaya’s existing lineup such as the Carnival and Sportage, with the notable exception of the Sorento. Also notable is the inclusion of the EV9, in stark contrast to sister company Hyundai Motor Malaysia (HMY) deciding not to offer EVs for the time being.
Lek took the opportunity to introduce the rest of KSM’s leadership team, many of which she has worked with in her near two-decade stint in the industry, including in various roles at Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM). These include director of government relations and product Hafiz Zaim, general manager of sales Victor Chan, general manager of ownership (i.e. aftersales) Rafhan Saiah, general manager of marketing Vince Yeoh, and general manager of channel Phang Chee Wei.
That Kia is only now choosing to manage Malaysian sales directly is surprising, given that it has long established its Asia-Pacific headquarters here. Its APAC arm operates in 33 countries – including ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand – and runs six subsidiaries across the region, of which KSM is one of them. Another is Kia Malaysia (KMSB), which manages CKD local assembly at the Inokom plant in Kulim, Kedah.
Established on November 3, KSM will begin distributorship operations on January 1, 2026. The company will fulfil all orders up to November 30, and all Kia service centres will continue to operate during the transition from Dinamikjaya. However, all orders will be paused during the month of December.
“Our target is to grow at a sustainable pace for the long term,” said Hyung Ho Kim. “For us, it’s not so much about being the fastest growing brand; rather, it’s more about being a brand that cares about our customers, our dealers and the Malaysian automotive segment.”
Lek added, “It is an extremely exciting time for us right now as we reenter the Malaysian market as a standalone entity. No longer represented by a distributor, the brand is now led by the principal with full control over our voice, values and vision. With strong systems and a clear plan in place, we are ready to bring back the true Kia brand experience.”
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good, bring back kia sedan too with good pricing , not everybody like SUV
A comfortable, larger and hi tech Sedan will have its market. Just like the BYD Seal 06, Seal and Tesla Model 3.
Not sure if they’re going mass market in Malaysia but if they’re are… Hope some products selling well in India to be considered for Malaysia
I owned a Kia Optima for a period of 10 years from 2005 to 2015. Maintenance wise, the first 5 years were acceptable but the next 5 years were horrible with never ending breakdowns and unexpected problems. For last year of my ownership I had to call the tow truck many times. When I sold it at the 10th year its value was less than half of a 10 year old Myvi. That’s some depreciation for a car costing RM100,000.
Would I buy a Kia again? No. I won’t touch this brand with a 10 foot pole. For comparison, my Mazda 3 is now 10 years old and I have no maintenance issues with it, not counting wear and tear parts.
I like to see how people (or organisations) like to claim that they were good in car sale business. Example Naza Kia team (previously known as Earning Link Sdn Bhd -for new Kia sales and Kia Technical Service – the official Kia after sales, technical and warranty. The people running the company proudly claim to the best team but when given Peugoet, Citroen and Chevrolet, failed miserably.
Same goes to Bermaz team who said yeah.. we did well with Mazda. But apparently didn’t do a good job with Kia.
Emily Lek could be a similar story. Unless she could bring in exciting Kia cars at below 100k. Or even better, below 80k.
No often to the new MD of Kia Sales Malaysia. She has been good profile in Benz and went to Jaecoo Malaysia as vice president. She brought up high for Jaecoo but less than 2 years she leaving to KSM. Of course money and position in KSM is higher and better, but Kia is not a new brand to Malaysia and I believe over 90% people not interested on Kia brand. I owned Kia K3 before and personal experience I wouldnt go back to Kia at all. Plus Kia is no longer budget, many models are more expensive than Toyota and Honda but yet quality not on par to Toyota.
If they want to focus segment of car >200k good luck..Kia is just not that desirable in malaysia market other than very small niche,they just dont carry the trust for people to spend that much wether because of resale value,aftermarket part sourcing and pricing issue..Please rebuilt ur reputation from mass market hatchback,sedan,suv,ev that is competitively price and spec..Then we talk wether people will pay BMW/Merc price for Kia product..ill be surprise if kia can even surpass mazda here and love to be prove wrong..Probably in short term target that first..That aside i wish kia success in malaysia..Personally love ev6, ev3, k4 design..
Their new picanto look so good, hopefully they will bring it to Malaysia, I’ll definitely book 1 if they do so
‘As they move upmarket’….this is where the problem lies. Kia was good at being nobody aka building cheap cars. I agree there is not much money to make there so they decide to move up market trying to earn more.
Its either make or break as market has experienced them as cheap, not so reliable, bad rv vehicles. No doubt some of their model is indeed very good but thats how they are generally perceived by the market.
Imagine is out of nowhere Perodua or Proton decided to produce a plush SUV or sedan. Even if the vehicles is indeed very good, nobody wants to buy a couple hundred thousand Perodua or Proton.
Its the other way around for premium brand. People line up and buy lets say a cheap Merc A class, because its a Merc. The brand can pull some trick by slapping a Merc badge on a not so Merc vehicles and sell them at Merc price.