With the Tremendous Bowl simply two weeks away, Kia stands alone as the one automaker that has dedicated to working a business at this level.
The Korean model, which has been a Tremendous Bowl staple, will spotlight the favored three-row Telluride. The utility car has been freshened for the 2023 mannequin yr.
Kia sees the Tremendous Bowl stage as a key piece in constructing consciousness. It’s pushing the Telluride through the recreation as a result of the corporate “elevated manufacturing within the [West Point, Ga.] plant, beginning in September, by 20 %, so we want to ensure we maintain telling individuals to maintain the demand,” mentioned Russell Wager, Kia America’s vice chairman of promoting.
The model will begin rolling out a sneak peek of the Tremendous Bowl marketing campaign after Feb. 1.
Wager mentioned Kia will proceed to be aggressive with its up to date portfolio, which incorporates the battery electrical EV6, the freshened Telluride and the redesigned fifth-generation Sportage.
Kia is driving momentum because it heads into the sport. The corporate’s U.S. gross sales almost broke even in 2022, down simply 1.1 %, in a market that declined by 8 % as a complete.
Telluride deliveries have been up 6.6 % final yr and set a full-year gross sales file. The Sportage and Sorento additionally achieved annual gross sales information in 2022.
Eric Watson, Kia America’s vice chairman of gross sales operations, mentioned it has been 3½ years since Kia launched the Telluride, however “we nonetheless have a wait-list at each supplier for patrons ready for that car to return in. In all probability our hottest product in our lineup.”
Kia sees this as a time to maintain grabbing client consideration whereas different producers sit out the Tremendous Bowl.
“We’re not taking our foot off the accelerator,” Wager advised Automotive Information. “We have got progress plans. We’re additionally going into our first full yr of Sportage, our first full yr of EV6, our first full yr of the brand new 2023 Telluride. We have got plenty of tales to inform. And with that, we have to inform much more individuals if we need to obtain our progress. So we’re glad that everybody else is deciding to decelerate a bit of bit — we have now no plans to do this.”