Kia says it is looking for “substantial increases” in its share of the the UK fleet sector as its upgraded range starts to penetrate further into the British market.
The Hyundai Motor affiliate currently enjoys a 1.7% fleet market share in the UK but is looking to markedly improve this as its new range starts to filter through.
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“We are looking for substantial increases within the next two years of UK fleet market share,” head of fleet and remarketing John Hargreaves told just-auto in Barcelona at the launch of the manufacturer’s upgraded Picanto model.
“Obviously our strength has been in retail, we have ambitious [fleet] growth plans and our view is we will need to become a major force in the fleet market if we are to achieve our overall growth plan.”
To that end Hargreaves is also looking to complement Kia’s autocratic fleet business with more ‘user chooser’ sales with the company’s flagship Sportage model giving the automaker a foothold in that segment.
He said the UK market remained healthy and was “not in decline at all” although he stressed the current climate of austerity and greater government emphasis on CO2 emissions was focusing minds more intently on cost savings.
“We are well positioned on price and CO2,” he said, [and] when the new Rio comes out, we will have a car that is 85g CO2, that is going to be strong.”
“The situation where there is an element of cost saving going on will be good for Kia because we are competitively priced. Our residual values are strong and when fleets are looking at saving money, we have an extremely strong offer.”
Hargreaves added the brand had a presence in all of the UK’s fleet sectors such as Motability, car rental, contract hire and leasing, while he remained confident the new range would perform well in the various segments.
That new range is now being reinforced by some fairly high profile UK sports backing such as the FA Cup and sponsorship of the England cricket ground, The Oval.
“That is part of the strategy, to bring up the image of the brand,” said Hargreaves. “That would be superfluous if the products had not moved on.
“The brand image is changing rapidly from a car that is brought primarily for cost reasons to a range that people actually want to drive.”
