Kia had announced its intentions to enter the growing Indian auto industry. The company had also planned to set-up a shop close to Hyundai’s plant in Chennai and start rolling cars staring with the small car segment. However, the South Korean auto maker soon announced that company was just conducting market study and was testing the Indian shores before it makes any official announcement.
The Kia Picanto which also shares its platform with the Hyundai i10 has been caught testing in Chennai a couple of times. Once again the car was seen at Velachery, Chennai where it was first seen testing.
The caught testing was the new Facelifted Picanto which has already launched globally. The Picanto seems more muscular compared to the i10 which now bears the new Fludic design theme.
Hyundai is looking for its third plant for the Indian market, Se we feel this could be an important milestone for the South Korean car maker to utilise the production facility to achieve economies of scale.
We feel Kia could use the top down strategy to enter the Indian market. Kia is known for sporty looking cars which could help them differentiate with the established Hyundai brand.
With Volkswagen & Skoda, Renault-Nissan using the same platforms for similar models we cant find any reason why Kia will not do the same for the Indian market.
Image Source: Team BHP
