Kia Makeover in U.S. Includes Soul, Forte Models

(MoneyWatch)  Michael Sprague, marketing vice president for Irvine, Calif.-based Kia Motors America, has a full plate this year, launching two all-new, 2010 models: the Soul crossover, which resembles a small SUV, and the Forte, a small car that replaces Kia's biggest seller in the U.S. market by far, the Spectra. The Soul is on sale now. The Forte goes on sale in June.

Before the present sharp downturn in U.S. auto sales that started last fall, Kia said its long-range goal was to double sales by 2010. Safe to say, that timing has been postponed, but the long-term goal is probably still in force. For now, Kia is soft-pedaling its volume goals, at least publicly.

U.S. sales for Kia more than tripled from 1998 to 2007, so the Kia brand has a lot success behind it. In 2008, Kia's U.S. sales were 273,397. That was 10.5 percent behind 2007, but better than most brands in a terrible year. BNET Auto Analyst Jim Henry interviewed Sprague at a press introduction in Miami for the Kia Soul, on March 11. The following are edited excerpts.

BNET: Can you put the Soul in context for all of 2009? What else is coming? The Forte, right? Michael Sprague: Advertising launched for the Soul in February, starting with a 60-second ad in 2,000 movie theaters around the country. National TV ads break on April 1. We also have out-of-home, direct marketing, direct mail. The digital versions of all these things are constantly being updated. Print starts in April and May, and we have experiential (i.e. events where people can see the car in person and/or drive it) starting in July. We also have Souls in several NBA arenas (because Kia is an NBA sponsor). All that takes us through about June.

BNET: Then the Forte? MS: Then we start the launch of the Forte. We're hoping that will be our volume leader. It's in the compact segment, which is the biggest segment where we compete, about 1.6 million to 2 million cars a year (for the whole industry). We will be on the air in late June to early July with Forte advertising. That's pretty much it for Tier I (manufacturer advertising) in 2009, except we will have a sales event in December 2009, to sell down whatever 2009 models we have left over.

BNET: The Forte replaces the Spectra, right? Does the Spectra name go away? MS: The Soul is really going to transform the brand. We wanted to signal there's a "New Kia" coming. The Spectra name didn't resonate well. It came with a lot of baggage.

BNET: What do you mean when you say resonate? Is that the brand, or do you mean the word, "Spectra" doesn't mean anything to anybody? MS: The perception of the badge. We're aware our biggest problem right now is our quality-image problem. We believe the image is lagging where the reality is.

BNET: The company is building a new plant (in West Point, Ga.) to build the replacement for the Sorrento (SUV). Will that name go away, too, or will it keep the name? MS: We have not made a decision with regard to the name. The old one is an SUV and the new one is a crossover, which is built more like a car. So we have not made that decision.