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Recently, Kia executives publicly angered BYD and pointed the finger at BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu, causing widespread concern and heated discussion in the circle.

Yang Honghai, chief operating officer of Kia China, posted on Weibo on Feb. 15 that he posted a post on an APP about whether to choose an oil car or a tram within the price range of 150000 MSRP (only mentioned that Tesla does not have products within 150000, but did not mention BYD), which drew a group of BYD water army to attack me. Earlier, Yang Honghai said in a post, "anyone who engages in automobiles knows that if you are determined to buy an oil car within 150000, you will have the highest performance-to-price ratio. As we all know, because the cost of the tram is there, both manufacturers and dealers need to make money (except Tesla, everyone else is losing money, but Tesla does not have products of less than 150000). "

According to Yang Honghai, his topic triggered a large number of netizens to stand in line with BYD, which is the direct reason why Yang Honghai started BYD directly. In the early morning of February 16, Yang Honghai publicly named BYD and its chairman Wang Chuanfu on Weibo: "Wang Chuanfu, please educate your team, the navy also needs to improve (talk about) quality, you say we are bat cars, please reflect on your product first?" Does the BYD brand name sound good? Isn't it just an abusive word? One day your product will not ignite spontaneously on the street? When can you mark the real mileage? When can you stop cheating? When will you be the first passenger car export data in China Customs? "

Yang Honghai's anger also spread to the comment area, and when it comes to Kia's bad remarks, he will basically be "greeted" by Yang Honghai. For example, some netizens commented, "Why, domestic brands are starting to chase Korean cars, are you in a hurry?" Yang Honghai responded directly, "BYD has the ability to make 46 billion in global car sales, don't live on government subsidies, and don't make money by fooling customers." In addition, in the face of netizens' questions such as "isn't Kia cold yet" and "people still buy Korean cars these days", Yang Honghai is "good" one by one. (Kia) earned 46 billion yuan last year. "when you buy a car, spray it again."

According to the data, Yang Honghai is a marketing veteran in the automobile industry. He has successively served as SAIC Chase Brand and Network Director, Marketing Director, Deputy General Manager of MPV Division, SAIC Indonesia Deputy General Manager and other positions. In April 2020, Yang Honghai joined brilliance Renault Gold Cup as vice president and was fully responsible for the marketing of brilliance Renault Gold Cup, but with the bankruptcy reorganization of brilliance Renault Gold Cup, Yang Honghai gradually faded out of sight. At present, Yang Honghai, chief operating officer of Kia China, attended the launch conference of the new Kia K3 on February 13.

On February 13th, the new Kia K3 officially launched, with a total of six equipped models, with a price range of 11.29-143900 yuan. As a medium-term revamped model, the new car is upgraded to varying degrees for appearance and interior, and the power still provides 1.5L and 1.4T engines. As a reference, the price range of cash Kia K3 is 10.98-131800 yuan.

In terms of appearance, the front face of the new K3 changes obviously. The iconic tiger whistle middle net adopts a flat design, and the blackened through air intake grille is surrounded by a new style, which makes the whole car look more athletic. In addition, the brand-new star chain LED headlamp design is integrated with the grille, and the T-shaped daylight brings higher recognition. On the side of the body, the new K3 lengthens the front suspension length and shortens the rear suspension to make its ratio more balanced. In the rear part, the new car is equipped with brand-new through taillights, with a "duckling tail" rear spoiler and a black surround at the bottom. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new K3 are 4666/1780/1450mm and the wheelbase is 2700mm.

In terms of interior decoration, the new Kia K3 does not adopt the family's latest duplex screen design style, but it is still equipped with a 10.25-inch full LCD dashboard and a touch button at the bottom of the 10.25-inch floating center control screen, with a new shape of the block handle. more refined. At the same time, the car-engine system is equipped with the newly upgraded Kia Connect Smart Internet system, the UI design is more simple and intuitive, and the sense of science and technology has also been improved.

In terms of power, the new K3 is consistent with the current model, providing 1.4T turbocharged engine and 1.5L naturally aspirated engine with maximum power of 140hp and 115hp respectively, and the transmission system matches 7-gear dry double clutch gearbox and CVT gearbox respectively.

Horizontally, the new Kia K3 (RMB11.29-143900) mainly competes with models such as Dongfeng Nissan Xuanyi (RMB998-174900), FAW Toyota Corolla (RMB 109800-159800), FAW-Volkswagen Bora (RMB 98800-157000), while BYD launched the 2023 Qin PLUS DM-i just before the launch of the new K3, with a price range of RMB998-145,800. In terms of price comparison, the new Kia K3 has the highest starting price among the mainstream compact cars, while the market performance is the worst. Kia K3 sales for the whole year of 2022 were 12663, compared with 189105 for Qin PLUS DM-i, 42066 for Xuanyi, 351130 for Longyi and 249870 for Carola, according to the Federation. It is not difficult to see that the sales of the Kia K3 are not even comparable to those of the above models.

Therefore, in the view of many netizens, the time point of this "war of words" just takes place after the listing of the new K3, which may be a premeditated marketing event. As of the press time of "Automotive Industry concerns", Yang Honghai's Sina Weibo account comment function has been turned on one-click protection mode, and the comments below Weibo can no longer be viewed.

As Yang Honghai said, Kia is doing very well around the world. In 2022, Hyundai Kia sold a total of 6.848 million vehicles, making it the third largest automobile group in the world after Toyota and Volkswagen, of which Kia sold 2.9036 million vehicles, up 4.6 per cent from the same period last year. Kia's annual revenue in 2022 was 8.656 billion won (475.6 billion yuan), up 23.9 percent from a year earlier, and its net profit was 541 million won (29.72 billion yuan), up 13.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the financial report.

However, Kia's performance in the Chinese market is indescribable. The insurance figures show that Asia has sold 94345 vehicles in China since 2022, down 40.5 per cent from a year earlier, with the Freddy being the top seller, up 4.2 per cent to 19758, a model that sells for less than 100000 yuan. According to Kia's plan, it will stop producing models below 100000 yuan one after another, with Freddy and Yi run bearing the brunt, which may have a further impact on Kia's sales.

In the domestic market, the sense of existence of Korean brands is far less than that of German and Japanese brands, and with the increasing strength of Chinese brands, it directly leads to the survival crisis of Kia, Hyundai and other brands that focus on low-cost models, and their market share falls again and again. Survival will be more difficult in the future. By the end of the third quarter, Jiangsu Yueda Kia Automobile Co., Ltd., a joint venture in China, had total liabilities of 227.92 million won (12.2 billion yuan) and assets of 212.4 million won (11.3 billion yuan), according to Kia Q3 financial reports. According to this calculation, Yueda Kia is insolvent, with an asset-liability ratio of 107.3%.

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