Kia Philippines to Focus on Styling, Tech, Lifestyle Than Financing
Carmakers can always fight for showroom attention with offerings with better looks, specs, or prices; but at the end of the day, it’s having strong banking partners that will help win customers. Just like the vast majority of car brands locally, 70 percent of Kia buyers rely on financing to seal the deal. The economic slowdown brought on by the pandemic, and the subsequent tightening of banks offered a valuable lesson to the Ayala-backed Korean auto brand.
During the height of the community quarantines, banks and other lending institutions offered “payment holidays” rather than letting customers default on their loans. Regardless, the default rate remained high, and this resulted in banks having to tighten access on several loan products, including those associated with cars.