Kia Motors Corp. was the first Korean carmaker to enter the Chinese market.
Kia began sharing its technologies with the Chinese Yueda Group in October 1996 to manufacture its old Pride model there.
On top of its partnership with Yueda, Kia signed a joint capital agreement with Dongfeng Automotive, one of China`s three top automakers, in March 2002.
The joint venture named Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motors unveiled its first product Qianlima in December of the same year, targeting the country`s rapidly growing small car market.
After it hit Chinese showrooms, the Qianlima, which comes in two different engine displacements of 1.6 liters and 1.3 liters, was greeted with acclaims. It was chosen as "the most powerful model" in the Shanghai International Motor Show 2003, "the youngsters` favorite car" by a local newspaper and one of the "50 most influential products in the 50-year history of Chinese autos" in July last year.
<**1>

The Qianlima also received the highest points among compact cars in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by the China Quality Association in 2004.
Following the Qianlima`s success, Dongfeng Yueda Kia introduced the Carnival minivan and the Optima midsize sedan last year.
Kia`s Cerato subcompact fitted with 1.6-liter or 1.8-liter engine also made a Chinese market debut in August this year, after a series of online and offline promotions including a new music album a music video featuring the car.
A Chinese idol Hwang Zheng sung the Cerato theme song of which the lyrics include Kia`s brand slogan "the power to surprise." The song ranked fourth on the Chinese pop chart in August.
In April, Dongfeng Yueda Kia also received consumers` suggestions for the car`s Chinese name through its website. Nearly 115,000 people participated in the online event and Sailatu was selected as the Cerato`s new name. The automaker drew attention by running an online contest to pick a publicity figure for the Cerato.
Dongfeng Yueda Kia increased the annual production capacity of its plant in the northeastern city of Yancheng to 130,000 units.
As the company aims at annual production of 430,000 units in China, it recently began building its second factory near Yancheng.
"Our second Chinese plant will be a springboard for Kia to become a major carmaker in the country," said Hyundai Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo at the ground-breaking ceremony on Oct. 29.
"Kia will roll out new economical models with superb quality from the new production line to meet the expectation of the Chinese people and to lead the development of the Chinese auto industry."
Together with its Slovakian plant currently under production, Kia plans to apply a variety of cutting-edge technologies and a highly economical operation system to its second Chinese factory.
Dongfeng Yueda Kia is also devoting itself to intensify its sales and maintenance network. It plans to increase the number of its 4S - sales, stock, service and system - agent stores from the current 120 to 200 by the end of this year.
The company has constantly trained its staff to improve their marketing skills and understanding of cars and the market. As a result, Dongfeng Yueda Kia earned the second highest marks after Audi among carmakers in the 2005 China Sales Satisfaction Index Study with 815 points, up 22 points from last year.
Donfeng Yueda Kia also climbed two steps compared to last year in the J.D. Power & Associates` study of customer satisfaction in maintenance service, ranking fourth with 814 points.
(sophie@heraldcorp.com)

By Kim So-hyun