Kia targets to double sales in 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Kia Philippines wants to double its sales next year  as it expects demand for vehicles to improve with the continued opening of the economy.

In a phone interview, Kia Philippines president Manny Aligada said the firm is looking to sell 6,000 units in 2021.

For this year, the firm expects to sell 3,000 units, lower than its initial target of 4,000 units amid the impact of the pandemic.

“So, if you look at those numbers, we’ll end up with a little over two percent market share and it is like we have doubled this year’s performance for next year.  There would be an opening of industries. And of course, it’s a build up to an election year in 2022. So what we will see is continued path moving forward,” he said.

The rollout of vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is also seen to help bring back consumer confidence.

While there are positive signs seen for next year that would help drive demand for cars, there are also spoilers.

Aligada said the imposition of a strict lockdown in case of a surge in COVID-19 cases, would definitely have an impact on vehicle sales.

“That lockdown or tightening of quarantine levels is a major spoiler. So, when that happens, immediately people will delay decision-making on car purchases. That will be fast. So that’s the major issue. We hope that doesn’t happen,” he said.

He said another spoiler is the movement of the foreign exchange, which would impact pricing and demand as the firm imports vehicles being sold in the country.

“If we can manage [these spoilers], we can go for a very positive 2021,” he said.

Kia Philippines sold a total of  5,019 vehicles last year.