Kia Sportage will end long wait list

Customers are being promised much more realistic delivery times for the popular Sportage, as well as the Sorento and Optima as South Korea gets serious about success in Australia. 

Kia is aiming to be the fastest growing car brand in the country through 2012, as well as earning a place on the top 10 sellers for the first time. 

"We want to keep going, to become number one. That target will not be stopped," Charlie Kim, the new managing director of Kia Motors Australia, tells Carsguide. 

"This year, and in the coming years, our utmost aim and target is to make Kia Australia the number one fastest growing brand in the market." What about a top-10 result overall? "Definitely. I dare to say." 

He says the company is aiming for double-digit growth in 2012 after a 5.4 per cent lift in sales during 2011 to reach a total of 25,128. Kim acknowledges the backlog on some Kia models last year, apologises to owners, and promises a stronger commitment to early deliveries. "The length of the wait was not acceptable, it was far too long," he says. 

"The target this year is 4-6 weeks, maximum. They have become a model of desire, but people showed last year they will wait for the car. "Supply has been much improved. Sportage diesel will be improved from this month, Sorento is already improving from the end of last year. We also have better supply of Cerato." 

This year will be relatively quiet on the new-model front but Kia promises a continued emphasis on local development, especially on the ride-and-handling package that has set his brand apart from other importers. 

"It's a strong aim that we want to keep going. Cars for Australian tastes and Australian conditions." Kia's big arrival for 2012 is a totally overhauled Sorento, with an existing body sitting on a new chassis, but Kia says there is more. 

"Starting this month we have three and four-door Rio. In the middle of the year we have Sorento and we think this will do well. It's not a completely new car but they have changes the chassis." 

One disappointment is that Kia will not do a version of the Hyundai Veloster, potentially a breakthrough car for 2012, as the company does with other shared platforms. And Kim admits that Kia will not be able to challenge the big brother in their Korean family, even with his aggressive targets. 

"We will not catch Hyundai, but the project is to grow faster and continually close the gap on all the importers," he says.