Korean Kia on the way
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• A new range of Koreanbuilt light commercial vehicles, called Kia, is coming to the UK. Australian entrepreneur Paul Stoddart is on the verge of signing a deal with Kia Motors to import the Korean vehicles into the UK through his existing Yugo and Dacia dealer network. Stoddart controls the Yugo-Dacia franchises here.
The first vehicle will be a panel van-derived pick-up, based on a Mazda design. Mazda has a substantial shareholding in Kia, and Kia produces versions of Mazda cars, vans and trucks. In Korea, Kia has a range of vans based on the now-obsolete Mazda E1600. Panel van, pickup and chassis-cab versions are available, together with a minibus version called the Bongo. It is believed the UK vehicle will be the pick-up model from this range.
Further up the range is a 3. 5-tonne pick-up and chassiscab range called the Titan, which is roughly equivalent to a Mitsubishi Canter in size.
The vehicles selected for the UK would be chosen to avoid duplication with existing Yugo and Dacia models, says Stoddart. For this reason, the first Kia pick-up to be sold will be a larger vehicle than the petrol-engined Dacia Shifter one-tonne car-derived pick-up already on sale.
The Kia franchise will be offered to existing dealers first, then outside the network. The acquisition of the franchise is part of a bid by Stoddart to build his company into a multifranchise importer along the lines of International Motors, which imports Hyundai, Subaru and [sum cars and vans. A fourth franchise will be added in 1991.
Kia cars are not involved in the deal due to licensing problems and overlap with the Yugo range.
The best-known Kia car is a version of the Mazda 121 hatchback. Kia produces these for the American market, where they are sold as the Ford Festiva. Mazda 121s sold in the UK are Japanese-built, though Mazda's UK importer MCL is keen to sell Kia-built versions in the United Kingdom.
Stoddart made his fortune running salvage auctions of crash-damaged vehicles in Australia, He has recently set up an auction company called Autobase in Dudley, near Birmingham, which runs a weekly salvage auction and a weekly car auction. A commercial vehicle auction is also planned later this year.