Kia franchise rated tops by dealers

Kia dealers have rated holding the franchise as the best in the business – alongside Audi – in the Retail Motor Industry Franchise Dealer Attitude Survey.

Praising relationships and business dealings with the manufacturer amongst the highest in almost every category, Kia dealers reckoned the value of holding the franchise was equal top alongside Audi dealers, but ranked Kia as the best in the business for the partnership between the two.

The Kia franchise was also seen as equal best in terms of future profitability alongside Audi and Land Rover but they put Kia clear of the rest of the industry when it came to the return on investment compared to dealer standards requirements and when asked to judge if the manufacturer took dealer views and opinions into account.

The Summer 2010 survey showed that Kia remains a “target” franchise for dealers and that despite continuing tough economic conditions dealers felt more able to look to the future with optimism as part of Kia’s network.

Michael Cole, Managing Director of KMUK said: “The partnership with our dealers has been central to our thinking for several years now and I am delighted and flattered by the way our dealers view the nature of the relationship.

“We know that without a good working relationship with our dealers it will be much more difficult for us to grow our business and develop our brand in the UK in the future as we aim to do. With a continuing rush of exciting new product coming to the UK – typified by the just-launched all-new Sportage – in the next few years we believe a strong partnership with our dealers is essential,” he added.

The survey showed Kia dealers ranked the franchise first or equal-first in 14 out of 32 business areas and amongst the top five in almost every area of the survey.