Hyundai and Kia Split

Strategies

South Korea's Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, seeking to become one of the top five automakers by 2010, unveiled Wednesday its new global brand management strategy, in which Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will pursue differentiated brand images to boost its overall market share and the value of the two brands.

Under the new strategy, the group said Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will be promoted under separate brand slogans. Hyundai Motor's slogan — Drive Your Way — is designed to communicate the company's "refined and confident" brand attributes, while the slogan — The Power to Surprise — is aimed at embodying the "exciting and enabling" values of Kia Motors brand.

"These new brand identities have been established to ensure complete differentiation between Hyundai and Kia, as well as from our global competitors. We are confident that these new identities will result in significant synergies, thereby creating additional market share for each brand, since each company targets very different customers with different lifestyles," Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Mong-koo Chung said.

Hyundai and Kia will integrate their respective brand strategies into all facets of their business including product development, design, marketing, sales, and after-sales service, officials said. The brand strategies will be simultaneously implemented in strategic regions, such as the U.S., Europe, and China, as the two companies seek to clearly differentiate their respective brands, while enhancing overall brand power, it said. — Peter Chang

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