Kia Malaysia to operate independently from Hyundai – will be in similar segments, not abandon EV models

Last week’s launch of Kia Sales Malaysia (KSM) followed less than six months after that of Hyundai Motor Malaysia (HMY), with both brands of the Hyundai Motor Group entering the country via a principal-led model. While the two events were coincidentally held at the same venue in Bamboo Hills, KSM managing director Emily Lek was keen to stress that the company is operating in an entirely separate capacity from HMY.

This includes the product strategy, with KSM looking to play to the brand’s strengths rather than simply copying HMY’s playbook or avoiding competition with its sister company altogether. “The thing is that outside of Korea, whatever Hyundai does is whatever Hyundai does, whatever Kia does is whatever Kia does.

“For us, it’s not looking at what [HMY] does and obeying. It’s really down to what the Malaysian market wants. What types of cars [Malaysians] want, which is the suitable segment. And that’s why, what we do is look at the market [and say], ‘There’s potential here, there’s a gap here.'” she said.

In stark contrast to HMY’s approach of bringing in an (almost) entirely new lineup, KSM is set to retain the models previously sold by Bermaz-owned distributor Dinamikjaya Motor. There will be those who feel that the company is not making a big enough splash in the Malaysian market – contradicting its plan to “Be Unstill” – but Lek contends that its more important for it to firstly ensure both new and existing owners are taken care of before the new products are rolled out.

“I don’t believe that a big splash is necessary for everything. Kia does have a brand history here. So for us, the focus is to rebuild confidence in the customers. It’s not about changing the total lineup [to sell more models]. It’s really [saying], ‘Do I understand you as a customer? Do I understand what you need? I should give you products and services that you need,'” she said.

While moving to a principal-led model would likely bring advantages in terms of pricing, Lek said that the Kia brand will not be drawn into a price war with Chinese brands, which have dominated the lower end of the non-national segment.

“To be honest, when you look at the build quality of our cars, the technologies that come with our cars, we will not go into [the value segment]. That’s not what the brand brings. We are [also] not focused on just just pushing volume into the market. It’s about making sure that every car that goes out is well built, will be well taken care of.

“It will be steady, sustainable growth. It won’t just be, ‘I come in, I want to sell 10,000 cars,’ because that will not be sustainable. So will we fight with the Chinese makes? Hopefully not, because we really believe we actually have a much better product,” she said, reiterating that the company first needs to focus on building the dealer network and its sales and aftersales offerings to inspire customer confidence.

While HMY has categorically stated there are no plans to bring in new EVs in the foreseeable future, Lek was careful not to rule such vehicles out altogether, pointing out that the launch event prominently featured the flagship EV9. However, she said that whatever new models Kia brings to the table need to be play in spaces not currently filled with competitors – the so-called “blue oceans.”

“Right now, to be honest, the EV space is highly congested, and [we need to] look for space where there is a ‘blue ocean’, there is no car catered for that space, and for us, [our job] is to continuously look for a car that fits into this space, and introduce it into the market.” she added.

Acknowledging that current Kia EVs are fairly expensive, Lek said that future models will need to be competitively priced, with the spec being selected accordingly. “At the end of the day, as a salesperson, the cheaper the car, the easier it is to sell. But something that is different is how we spec the cars. There are some cars that are so overly specced, you don’t use 80 or 90% of [the features].

“So it’s really looking at what specs the Malaysian people really need or want.”

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