Kia have told its 170 strong UK dealer network about up and coming models for 2006, some of which are still in the early stages of production.
One of those vehicles is the new facelift Kia Sorento, seen here on road test (see Autoweld), which has now been confirmed by Kia UK for May/June 2006 delivery.
Along with the new Sorento, Kia also announced delivery times for the all new Kia Magentis and Sedona, which will arrive in March & July 2006 respectively. However there was no mention of the new Kia Carens which is a shame.
But there is a problem! They have been told not to tell anybody and if they do they will be shot at dawn. Ok I made the shot at dawn piece up, but what’s the point in that.
News travels fast in blogland and so it would be quite refreshing to hear of a car manufacturer keeping its dealers and customers up to speed as opposed to in the dark. Many dealers complain that their customers are more informed than they are, at times this causes confusion and embarrasment for all paties concerned.
Understandably a carmaker want’s to keep its future plans under wraps until they are good and ready, but these day’s that’s virtually impossible. The worry is that they and the dealer network will get lumbered with a load of old models that customers won’t want, which rarely happens anyway as price always dictates sales and customers love a bargain.
These day’s most customers already know about up and coming models as the information is so easily accessible on the internet and via search engines, so hopefully Kia are setting an example by letting the dealers in on their plans early, so when a customer does enquire, the right information is given out in the proper way.
The way i see it is there are two choices:
a) Tell your dealer network nothing, issue an embargo on them and if they break it tell them they will be shot at dawn. Let a bystander, journalist or blogger take a snap shot of your secret new model whilst your test driver flogs it down a busy high street with tape and covers plastered all over it. Let your potential customers walk into a dealership with the pictures and have the dealership deny all knowledge, lose credibility and perhaps a sale.
b) Release the information to your network at the earliest possible time, thus avoiding any future problems.
Hmmm..might catch on and of course we will be more than happy to pass this new information around.