Kia Canada Accused of Manipulating Sales to Increase Budget
Could there potentially be too much of a success for Kia Canada? It seems that CBC News has indicated so in their recently published report. During a period of background high sales for the car manufacturer, Kia Canada has chosen to not deliver recently purchased autos to customers until 2024 – this decision came from corporate headquarters in South Korea, apparently because they didn’t want their Canadian branch to appear excessively impressive.
An alleged video call that occurred on November 17 between a Kia Canada regional manager and several dealership representatives has been the source of news. CBC News obtained footage of the call, in which the manager stated, “With the global slowdown, Kia Canada wants to control wholesale and retail performance in 2023 to not show high overachievement.” The manager was reportedly seeking to regulate Kia Canada’s performance in the coming year.
According to the report, a lower overall annual sales rate will enable Kia Canada to acquire a more robust marketing budget from their headquarters for the year 2024. This seems to be the impetus behind this plan. Unfortunately, this has caused customers who have purchased vehicles to wait for several weeks or months, exacerbating the process. Allegedly, this conclusion was drawn in mid-November, implying up to an extra six weeks for some purchasers. The motive behind all of this appears to be to artificially adjust the sales figures for 2023.
The transition could also have a solid financial impact on auto sales persons and dealers, most who are salary-based by commission. Given that purchases and funds don’t equivalently correspond to deals, wages usually aren’t provided until the finals papers are inked and the automobile is handed over. According to CBC News, a few dealers have plainly expressed their disapproval with this change, which is very understandable.
Kia has yet to make a public statement with regards to the current scenario. Our team sent out numerous questions and a query for a declaration to Bonafide Kia Canada dealer reps, however we have not received any answers back. Additionally, several Canadian Kia dealers were asked to address the sales policy off-the-record but all were unwilling to comment on it; some were particularly vehement in refusing to do so. We also contacted Kia’s worldwide communications department but have yet to hear anything back.
No signs suggest that a comparable plan is in existence in the United States. Nonetheless, we endeavored to reach out for affirmation so as to guarantee ourselves. As we get new information, this content will be duly amended.
How successful is Kia Canada at this time? There is not one single press statement on the business’s Canadian digital pages covering up-to-date sales success. Nonetheless, they are present – a declaration from the vehicle manufacturer on Nov twenty ninth reported that Kia Canada achieved an unequalled sales record with 79,199 units sold. Which is yearly sales; taking this into account, it’s quite awesome thinking about nothing has yet been included from December.
It will undoubtedly be curious to observe the year-ending figures. If this claimed withholding practice is being applied, we’d anticipate December transactions to be minimal for Kia Canada.
Source: CBC News
