Amid coronavirus lockdown, Kia Motors' 'Promise' to extend vehicle warranties

Kia Motors Corporation has announced the launch of the ‘Kia Promise’, a global warranty extension program for its vehicles. The Kia Promise is designed to support Kia customers whose movements may be limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Kia Promise is effective in 142 countries, and covers all vehicles with original Kia warranties that expire between February 1 and April 30, 2020. The program extends the warranty of all eligible vehicles to June 30, 2020.

Kia Motors claims that more than 500,000 customers worldwide could benefit from the Kia Promise warranty extension.

With many countries and businesses taking precautionary measures to counteract the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kia Promise aims to help customers who may be unable to visit a workshop during this time. The program also supports customers who are not able to bring their car in for free servicing in the midst of the global public health emergency.

Sangdae Kim, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Customer Experience Division at Kia Motors Corporation, commented: “By extending Kia’s comprehensive warranty cover to customers who may be affected by the pandemic, Kia Motors hopes they have one less thing to worry about during this time. Our goal is to help to alleviate any concerns our customers have about vehicle maintenance during periods of social distancing."

The company said it will contact all affected customers separately in the coming days with more details on the Kia Promise program.

The South Korean carmaker in India had stopped its wholesale billings on March 16 owing to the global pandemic and countrywide lockdown. Kia made its India debut in 2019 with the Seltos. March saw the Seltos becoming the largest-selling SUV for the third consecutive month with 7,466 units of the vehicle being sold. While this number is significantly lower than the 14,024 units of the SUV sold in February, considering the national lockdown in place, the figures would still give Kia something to cheer about.

Overall, Kia's sales fell from 15,644 in February but such drastic spirals have been reported by almost every OEM in the country and was obviously expected due to the national lockdown. The company's other offering in India - Carnival MPV - sold 1,117. This is down from 1,620 units in February for a vehicle that was officially launched at Auto Expo 2020.

Seltos and Carnival combined have helped Kia retain the number 3 spot in the Indian automobile industry.