Kia 2009 Annual Report Download - page 11

the Institute for Information Technology Advancement in
March 2009. And we have enjoyed great market feedback
by launching new forward-looking vehicles that fully
reect customer needs.
But design is what we are most proud of since our most
important strategic moves in the past several years have
been is this eld. The agship of Kia’s design identity -- the
Soul -- received the 2009 Presidential Award for Design, in
addition to several other design awards, including Grand
Prize at the 2008 Korea Design Awards and Gold Medal at
the 2008 Pin-Up Design Awards. We are also honored to
be the rst Korean automaker to receive a Red Dot design
award.
While it is commonly the case that quality suers during
times of signicant growth, Kia Motors has been careful
to prevent any such issues. In fact, we continued to carry
out the ‘GQ-3•3•5•5’ quality innovation campaign which
means that we strive to become one of the ‘top 3 in
product quality in 3 years’ and ’top 5 in perceived quality
in 5 years.’ As a result, key indicators from both Consumer
Reports and JD Power quality surveys showed that Kia
made substantial gains in 2009.
Turning to the bottom line, I am pleased to report that
total domestic and overseas sales reached 1.53 million
units in 2009 with revenues of KRW 18.4 trillion, operating
income of KRW 1.14 trillion and net income of KRW 1.45
trillion.
All of these outstanding achievements are due to your
unsparing encouragement and support, for which I
would like to thank you once again.
2010 promises to be another year of intense competition,
as all major carmakers vie to raise their share in an
extremely tight market. We believe that we are well-
positioned to make gains in this environment, and have
set ambitious growth targets for this year:
Kia Motors aims to sell 1.94 million units in 2010 (1.27
million units in Korea and 670,000 units overseas), which
is an increase of 26.5% from 2009.
To reach these targets, we are counting on the successful
launch of the latest generation Sportage and Optima
models, as well as strong sales of the Venga, which is
exclusively sold in Europe. Meanwhile, our active sports
marketing campaigns will continue, with Kia acting as a
major sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
As the Kia brand gains momentum, it is becoming
increasingly important to ensure its careful management.
We are working on multiple fronts to build an image
of Kia as a company that is known for quality, value
and creativity. We also value our reputation as a good
neighbor and model corporate citizen, and we are striving
to maintain excellent working conditions and healthy
labor relations, as well as support for a vast network of
employee volunteer groups.
Kia Motors has grown into one of the world’s major
automakers thanks to your unwavering support and
encouragement. We will do everything we can to
continue to repay your faith in us, and to build value for
you as a shareholder.
I extend my sincere thanks, and wish you and your family
all the best in 2010.
Thank you.
GREETINGS TO ALL OUR DISTINGUISHED
SHAREHOLDERS,
I would like to extend my gratitude for your unsparing
support for Kia Motors and wish you and your family health
and happiness in 2010.
While much of the world’s auto industry has spent the
past year struggling to recover from plunging demand
and overall uncertainty, we at Kia Motors have been able
to leverage our rising sales volume to strengthen the
company’s fundamentals, improve quality and advance
our design-centric growth strategy.
On the production side, we have been aggressively
engineering a global production scheme that maximizes
flexibility and efficiency. Several of our manufacturing
lines can now produce multiple models simultaneously,
and all are able to handle rapid changeovers in response
to shifting demand conditions. Kia’s Chinese plants are
ramping up production volume, and the completion of our
Georgia, USA plant in 2009 has given a signicant boost to
our ability to serve the world’s largest car market.
On the R&D side, our investments have continued to secure
new growth engines. We strengthened our global R&D
network connecting Korea, the U.S. and Europe by opening
VICECHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
Sung-Eun Chung
Vice-Chairman & CEO
We at Kia Motors have shown our competitors how to turn
crisis into opportunity. As many industry players struggle
to contend with declining demand, we have posted new
growth records.
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2009
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2009
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