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In the face of the continuous decline of the domestic automobile market and the impact of the epidemic situation, most automobile enterprises appear to be weak, especially the brands that are gradually marginalized such as Korean and French. But as the world's largest Chinese market and a battleground for everyone, Kia brands have to do more to boost their sales recovery.

Recently, it has been reported that the new Kia K5, which was launched in South Korea at the beginning of this year, has been officially brought to the first batch of about 200 imported new generation models by Kia, and has been shipped to domestic ports. Even some netizens revealed that the current model has been registered in major 4S stores in China. According to the four different power fuel models provided by South Korea, the price is about RMB 1390 - 185,700 yuan, which is really attractive.

However, it is understood that this batch of models is only used for display, publicity and media test drive, and will not be sold in the domestic market. The real domestic version of the new K5 is expected to be officially launched in September this year.

In fact, it is understandable for Kia to do so. As a current Kia K5 model, it has been nearly four years since its launch in 2016. Not to mention that this product lags behind many competing models of the same level, but now the discount goes to about 30,000, which is still higher than many competing models, so that the monthly sales volume has been in a state of depression, only less than 100 units.

To this end, the new model will be brought to the domestic market in advance, in order to make consumers feel the advantages of the new model in advance, thus arousing consumers 'desire to order. Although this kind of operation has a certain promotion effect for Kia, it also brings many disadvantages.

After all, the model is expected to be launched in September, equivalent to consumers waiting at least half a year from booking to picking up the car, during which if consumers choose to switch due to other factors, some potential consumers will undoubtedly be lost. Moreover, the current model is only an overseas version. If the model is truly domestic, there are many unpredictable situations in appearance, configuration and price. Once the domestic model is mass-produced, consumers find that there are some inconsistencies with the overseas version, which not only makes consumers dispel their desire to buy, but also affects their own reputation.

In addition, it may also happen like a scene in Chengdu Shunji Jinhua Kia 4S store, a consumer who came to buy a car, a glance at the new K5, the result insisted on paying to buy a car, but was told that the car is only for display, not yet listed in China temporarily not for sale, so that the two sides quarreled. Originally, the consumer came to the store to see Kia K3, but the result was K5, but the 4S store said it would not buy it, so it was helpless.

Of course, for Kia this marketing operation is mainly due to its own brand performance factors in China. As a second-tier joint venture brand in the Chinese market, Dongfeng Yueda Kia has struggled to survive in the last two years. In addition to the influence of some external factors, the brand positioning is not clear, the competitiveness of the model is insufficient, and the brand premium is declining, which makes Dongfeng Yueda Kia market performance shrink continuously.

According to the data, Dongfeng Yueda Kia sold 289,000 vehicles in 2019, down 22% year-on-year. In 2020, due to the severe environment of the automobile market and the impact of the epidemic, Dongfeng Yueda Kia is still under heavy pressure. In the whole first quarter, Dongfeng Yueda Kia accumulated sales volume of only 43152 vehicles, down 48.3% year-on-year, almost halved.

Therefore, in the face of a very difficult market, Kia had to do everything possible to achieve brand promotion strategies, including early exposure of new models.

According to the appearance of the brand-new Kia K5, the change is still very big, after all, called the replacement model. The family front face is matched with LED light bands with "S" shapes on both sides. With a slip-back profile on the sides, the iconic chrome roof molding remains, directly around the rear. The tail design uses a through-tail lamp, and the interior light band design is a dotted line design.

According to officials, the new car will also be further improved on the basis of overseas versions for Chinese consumer preferences, including body size. According to the body size of the current imported version, the length, width and height are 4905*1860*1445mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2850 mm. It is expected that the domestic body will be lengthened by 55mm and the wheelbase by 35 mm.

As for the interior part, the same is true. Since the exhibition car is an overseas version, certain adjustments may need to be made after domestic production in the future, but the overall shape may be roughly the same as that of the overseas version.

In terms of power, unlike the overseas version, the domestic version will be equipped with 1.5T and 2.0T powertrains, among which the 1.5T engine is also equipped with CVVD technology, and the brand-new 2.0T engine will be the latest Smartstream powertrain system.

From the appearance point of view, the new Kia K5 continues its cool appearance as always, but relative to the already fierce domestic market, Dongfeng Yueda Kia wants to realize the rebound of sales through the new model, or have to start from the cost-performance level, after all, now more and more luxury brands have explored the middle car market, gradually seize the joint venture brand market.

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