Kia Motors North America

Korean Auto Maker Chooses Ad Agency: Irvine-based Kia Motors North America has awarded its $30-million advertising account to San Francisco's Goldberg Moser O'Neill. Kia, South Korea's second-largest car maker after Hyundai, plans to start selling a four-door sedan in the United States in late fall, followed by a sports-utility vehicle early in 1994. The sedan will be prices at less than $9,000.

Kia Motors America said it would build a design studio at its new $70-million headquarters complex in Irvine as part of an effort to separate itself from parent Hyundai Motor America. The South Korean automakers now share an Irvine studio, which will continue to be used by Hyundai designers after Kia's $17-million, 65,000-square-foot design facility is completed early in 2007. Kia broke ground Friday on its new headquarters site. -- John O'Dell

Kia Motors North America said Monday that 100 of its new Sephia sedans have gone to rental-car service in Las Vegas. The 100 cars are the first of 3,000 Kias that the company aims to import to the United States and sell to rental fleets before new models go on sale next year. Budget Rent a Car, which received the first shipment two weeks ago, put the cars in service immediately, Kia Vice President Greg Warner said.

In the global auto industry, the lines between competitors and collaborators have become increasingly blurred over the years. A Los Angeles judge is set this week to decide whether, in at least one instance, things have gone too far. The case stems from a wrongful termination suit filed by a veteran South Korean auto executive, who has alleged that automakers Hyundai and Kia violated U.S. antitrust laws by conspiring on pricing and marketing plans to avoid competing with each other.

Kia Motors North America is finally getting its cash fix from parent Kia Motor Corp. in South Korea, reports chief operating officer Greg Warner. He won't say what the subsidiary's first year operating budget will be, but it is big enough that the government-controlled Central Bank of Korea had to approve the transfer of funds from Seoul to Irvine, where Kia's U.S. headquarters have been set up.

Kia Motors North America said Thursday that it has awarded its $30-million advertising account to San Francisco's Goldberg Moser O'Neill. The four agencies that were finalists in competition for the account had spent months on their pitches, bringing in experts familiar with the Daihatsu, Infiniti and Saturn accounts.

Slumping sales, plant closures and layoffs add up to an unhappy holiday season--and a pretty miserable year overall--for the auto industry in the United States. But at Kia Motors North America's office in a glass and concrete industrial complex in Irvine, the word still is go . South Korea's second-largest auto maker plans to begin selling a four-door sedan in select U.S. markets late next fall and to follow with a sports utility vehicle early in 1994.

Greg Warner likens himself to a famished diner with a full plate but no fork. The chief operating officer of Kia Motors North America is eager to dig into what has been set before him: the challenge of establishing South Korea's No. 2 car company as a main course on the crowded U. S. new-car menu.

Korean auto importer Kia Motors America is realigning the duties of its two top officers, splitting operations between its new president, W.K. Kim, and its longtime chief operating officer, W. Greg Warner, the company said Thursday. The shuffle eliminated the position of executive director of field operations, held by Lloyd Brenner since the company began operations in 1993. Brenner was let go. None of Kia's 175 remaining employees will be laid off, a spokesman said. A vice president, J.S.

Figuring that what's done wonders for big brother will be good for little brother too, Irvine-based Kia Motors America today will launch its version of the auto industry's longest warranty--a carbon copy of the 10-year, 100,000-mile coverage offered by Hyundai Motor America. Providing the long-term warranty is an effort by the South Korean auto importer to assure potential customers that the quality of its vehicles has improved dramatically since they were introduced in the U.S. in 1994.

Irvine-based Kia Motors America, riding two years of heady sales growth, reorganized its top management Monday. J.H. Lee, former head of parent Hyundai Motor Co.'s Canadian operations, will take over as president of the U.S. import and distribution company. Executive Vice President Peter M. Butterfield will add the title and duties of chief operating officer, taking over day-to-day operations.

Dick Macedo has resigned as executive vice president of marketing and sales at Irvine-based Kia Motors America. The importer and distributor of Korean-made Kia cars and sport-utility vehicles has not selected a replacement, company officials said. Kia's U.S. sales have almost doubled, to 160,600 units last year, since Macedo, 60, became the company's No. 2 executive in 1998. March, with 19,159 cars and SUVs sold, was Kia's best month in the U.S., said spokesman Geno Effler.

The U.S. units of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. in Orange County said Thursday that they have agreed to share parts-distribution centers in Atlanta and Aurora, Ill., to speed up deliveries to the South Korean auto makers' dealers. Kia, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor, will use the largest South Korean auto maker's Illinois center starting April 2 to supply parts to 126 dealers in the Midwest, the companies said.

Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. has been sued by a trio of Pennsylvania law firms alleging that defective front brake systems on the company's 1998-2000 Sephia sedans caused premature wear resulting in expensive repairs. The suits in Pennsylvania and New Jersey each were filed on behalf of individual Sephia owners but seek class-action status to cover owners of all 204,415 Sephias sold in the U.S. in the three model years.

Kia Motors America Inc. has been sued by a trio of law firms alleging that defective front brake systems on the company's 1998-2000 Sephia sedans caused premature wear resulting in expensive repairs. The suits in Pennsylvania and New Jersey were filed on behalf of individual Sephia owners but seek class-action status to cover owners of all 204,415 Sephias sold in the U.S. in the three model years.

Irvine-based Kia Motors America said Friday that it is recalling all 1998- and 1999-model Sephia compact sedans sold in the U.S. to replace a potentially faulty vapor-recovery valve in the fuel system. The recall affects a total of 100,137 vehicles. Kia spokesman Geno Effler said owners will be contacted by mail and asked to bring their vehicles to a Kia dealer for replacement of the valve. The U.S. arm of Kia Motors Corp.

Sales of Kia cars and sport utility vehicles in the United States topped the 10,000 mark for the first time in July, boosting the year-to-date tally for Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. to 50,616 units and earning about 250 full-time employees a bonus of two weeks' pay. The company's sales this year are almost double its total for the first seven months of 1996. To celebrate the record, Kia awarded its U.S. employees a bonus equal to two weeks' pay, sources said.

There's another consolidation in the works, although nobody is publicly acknowledging it yet. Look for South Koran auto importer Kia Motors America Inc. to pull all of its Irvine-based operations back into its headquarters at 2 Technology Drive early this summer. The company's South Korean parent is bankrupt. Although the consolidation here could save a few bucks a month in rent, that's not the main reason for the move, insiders say.

Figuring that what's done wonders for big brother will be good for little brother too, Irvine-based Kia Motors America today will launch its version of the auto industry's longest warranty--a carbon copy of the 10-year, 100,000-mile coverage offered by Hyundai Motor America. Providing the long-term warranty is an effort by the South Korean auto importer to assure potential customers that the quality of its vehicles has improved dramatically since they were introduced in the U.S. in 1994.

Kia Motors America said Wednesday that it plans to dismiss 20 of its 225 workers at the company's Irvine headquarters, even though its U.S. auto sales are booming. The U.S. arm of Kia Motors Corp. of South Korea took the action to improve the bottom line, spokesman Geno Effler said. Kia Motors America has yet to make money since it began selling in the U.S. in 1994. "We had a very good 1999, but this is a key year for us to become profitable," Effler said. The U.S.