A base model of the new Kia Cerato has been specially packaged to help the South Korean brand break into Australia�??s important fleet market.
The Cerato small car is Kia�??s biggest-selling model globally but has struggled to make significant ground in Australia�??s most popular segment.
Kia Australia sold 7881 Cerato hatches and sedans in 2012, a figure that failed to get the model into the top 10 for the year.
It was outsold by models that included the market-leading Mazda 3 (44,128 sales), i30 (28,348) and Elantra (8697) from parent company Hyundai, and even the generally costlier Volkswagen Golf (17,289).
Kia says it has been hampered by previous models that didn�??t have the necessary credentials to be considered by fleet buyers. The company says fleet sales account for about 20 per cent of the Hyundai i30.
�??With the previous generation Cerato�?� that car we did not sell to fleets,�?� says Kia Australia�??s general manager of marketing, Steve Watt. �??Fleets specify CO2 emissions, how many [safety] stars it�??s got, [government] Green Vehicle Guide rating, and all those things that make a government list.
�??And if you don�??t make the government list for all those criterion being ticked, you�??re not going to sell any cars.
Kia�??s answer is the all-new Kia Cerato that has been launched this week in Australia and starts from $19,990.
The base model gets a smaller, 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine compared with the mid-spec Si and range-topping SLi variants.
It�??s a cheaper engine to manufacture than the direct injection 2.0-litre four-cylinder in other Ceratos, while it also allows the base S to offer better fuel economy
The Kia Cerato S officially uses 6.6 litres of unleaded per 100km with a manual gearbox or 7.1L/100km with an optional six-speed auto. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder models have comparable figures of 7.4L/100km.
The base Cerato is decently equipped, including front and rear parking sensors, foglights, cruise control and Bluetooth.
The starting price of the Kia Cerato has increased by $600, though, which the company says was forced by the features it had to include.
�??We wanted to do was make sure the base car was the most appropriate to conquest fleet sales, and as you add those components to the car you get to a certain price cost to us,�?� says Watt. �??So that price point [of $19,990] is really based on maximising our opportunity with the sales we never got in the past.�?�
Kia Australia won�??t put a target figure on Cerato sales.
Click to read a review of the new 2013 Kia Cerato.
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