Kia Carnival Retains Best Used Car Award
Published: 26th April 2003
Kia Motors Europe Headquarters, April 23, 2003
The Kia Carnival (Sedona in the UK) has been crowned Best MPV by Britain’s Auto Express magazine in its 2003 Used Car Honours. This is the second consecutive year that the Carnival (Sedona) has won the award, which is presented in association with the UK motor trade bible Glass’s Guide. The award is judged on criteria such as residual value, build quality, availability and desirability. The Carnival fought off tough competition from the Ford and Seat line-ups.
"This award emphasizes Kia’s commitment to providing world class quality at a value price," comments Mr Yong-Hwan Kim, Kia’s COO and head of the International Business Division. "It also underlines the fact that the Carnival (Sedona) is not only an outstanding new vehicle purchase, but is a great used-car acquisition."
Introduced in 1999, the Carnival (Sedona) was Kia’s biggest global seller in 2002, and has won multiple awards for safety and value.
The U.S. version of the vehicle was the first Kia model to be awarded a blanket five-star safety rating by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), becoming one of only three MPVs to achieve that top standard.
"There is still an outdated perception that a good value car cannot hold its residual value," adds Mr Kim. "We expect this repeated success of Carnival (Sedona) to have a positive effect on the resale value of all the cars in our Kia range, making a Kia car an even more compelling purchase."
With 16 new vehicle launches scheduled over the next four years, Kia Motors Corporation aims to build on the success of vehicles such as the Carnival (Sedona), the Rio small car and the hugely popular Sorento 4x4 SUV, to become a top five global automobile manufacturer by 2010.
About Kia Motors Europe
Kia Motors Europe is the European sales, marketing, and service arm of Kia Motors Corp. With its headquarters in Eschborn, Germany, it covers 23 markets in Europe. The European sales target is 300,000 units by 2005, thanks to new European products and diesel engines.
About Kia Motors Corporation
Founded in 1944, Kia Motors Corporation is Korea’s
oldest manufacturer of automobiles. A part of the Hyundai
Automobile Group, the company currently sells more than one
million vehicles per year worldwide and exports around 600,000
vehicles per year through a network of distributors that covers
190 countries. Kia Motors is the major sponsor of the Australian
Tennis Open and the international sponsor of the Davis Cup
for the Euro/Africa Zone.
