Kia hopes to attract luxury buyers into its showrooms with the 2014 Cadenza luxury sedan.
Kia’s all-new 2014 Cadenza luxury sedan is moving the brand further and further away from its “value brand” label that it was known for ten years ago. WIth a price tag starting around $36,000 and a long list of standard luxury features, Kia hopes to attract buyers that would normally buy an Acura TL or Lexus ES.
“We standardized leather, we standardized navigation because we’re going after people who are buying the high-end Tauruses, the high-end Avalons the high-end Chrysler 300s, the Acura TLs, the Lexus ES and the Lincoln MKZ,” stated Michael Sprague, executive vice president of marketing for Kia Motors America. “That’s where we see the opportunity.”
Kia hopes to sell at least 12,000 units annually of the Cadenza, but it remains to be seen if buyers will be willing to pay almost $40k for a sedan that doesn’t have a luxury label. But, the brand’s average transaction price is moving upward. In 2009 the average Kia sold for $19,285 and through April of this year, that number has moved up to $22,896. Even better, Kia has been able to lower the amount of incentives to move the vehicles of the lot.
Although only time will tell if buyers will be willing to write a check for the Cadenza, storng sales of the Kia Optima and Sorento provide some hope that they will. One dealer in Florida says that half of his Optima and Sorento sales are the well-equipped models that have price tags over $30k.
Kia via Automotive News
