Here's Why Kia Brought Back the Slow Selling K900

The Kia K900 has not been a very popular vehicle in the United States.

The automaker sold just 455 of the full-size sedans in all of 2017, and 2016 wasn’t much better with just 834 units sold. The first model years for the vehicle in the US were a bit stronger, with Kia selling 1,330 in 2014 and 2,524 in 2015. Those are still extremely low numbers, though, especially for a volume brand like Kia, so why did the company bother engineering an all-new model for 2018?

We asked Kia USA product boss Orth Hedrick the same thing, who explained the interesting circumstances behind the car. He said that shortly after the recession, they noticed that many luxury buyers were moving downmarket into more affordable cars. Kia, responding to this trend, brought over the K9 that had been developed for the Korean domestic market. The sedan wasn’t really developed with American tastes in mind, however, and the sales reflected that.

“Well the last vehicle that we brought over, we got it in our portfolio at its midpoint, and the main market for that product was the (Korean) domestic market,” Hedrick said. “It didn’t have all the technology or the dynamics that we would have preferred to have.”

“At the time we introduced it we were in a recession and there was a lot of people moving out of luxury cars into mainstream brands,” he added. “We’re known for value and a great price, so our sales were booming with a lot of high-end buyers. We brought it over for a reason – to fill that market, but also to change perception of what our brand is. And it didn’t sell so well. Mainly because of where the brand was at the time, and the market moved away from the value-priced premium product that didn’t have all of the features, (the 2018 K900) they developed with more of a global mindset, it’s a much much better car.”

SEE ALSO: 2015 Kia K900 Review

So, Kia is banking on the new K900’s premium interior content, all-wheel drive and driving dynamics to win over buyers in North America. The new K900’s arrival in the US is also the result of the automaker developing the sedan for the global market. The vehicle will be sold the world over, including in Asia and Europe, so it makes sense for it to sell it in the US and Canada too – even if American and Canadian buyers haven’t responded to the K900 well in the past.

It will be interesting to see how buyers respond to the new and improved K900. Its overhauled interior and improved driving experience should help win over buyers, but let’s just hope the half-baked K900 we currently have hasn’t turned off buyers from the nameplate for good.

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