Kia Motors (UK) Limited Response to ASA Adjudication

WEYBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM – Aug 11, 2010: Kia Motors (UK) Limited wishes to respond to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudication case number A10-116778/JN. The adjudication, arising from two complaints – including one from an extended warranty provider – concerned some of Kia’s recent print and on-air advertisements for its seven year warranty.

These adverts, which had all been cleared in advance by Clearcast, The CAP Copy Advice Team and the RACC, had the following changes made to them based on new guidelines from the ASA:

The TV advert in question has been amended to say “Terms and exclusions apply” instead of “Terms and conditions apply” and is now on screen for the duration of the advert. This was put into place from Thursday 5th August. Kia Motors (UK) Limited decided to also implement this wording change on its print adverts.

The radio advert in question has been amended to include the 100,000 mile criterion.

No other changes were required. The full warranty terms and conditions were at all times available on a dedicated warranty section of the kia.co.uk website.

Commenting on the adjudication Simon Hetherington, Marketing Director, Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: “At Kia we are very proud of our warranty and are absolutely committed to communicating clearly on it. We believe that this is what we tried to do and that we were in line with other comparable advertisements, nonetheless we accept the ASA ruling and immediately acted to change the advertisements concerned which were back on air prior to the adjudication being released.”

Kia Motors (UK) Limited believes that its seven year warranty, which was first introduced on the European-built cee’d in April 2007 and then on the entire Kia line-up from 1 January 2010, remains the best in the industry. As a sign of its commitment to customer reassurance, and as an industry first, all Kia Approved Used Vehicles have been supplied with a warranty equal to that when they were new since April 2009 – this means that any Kia registered from 1 January 2010 and sold under the Approved Used Vehicle scheme will come with the same seven year warranty as a new Kia.

Kia New Vehicle Warranty Terms & Exclusions:

There is no mileage limit during the first 3 years, except for vehicles used as taxis where a limit of 100,000 miles applies.

There is a 100,000 mile limit between years 4 and 7.

Paintwork is covered for 5 years / 100,000 miles.

Audio is covered for 3 years / 60,000 miles.

Batteries are covered for 2 years.

Normal ‘wear and tear’ on items such as brake linings and clutch linings, etc. are excluded from cover.

The warranty is transferable, at no cost, to subsequent owners and is valid across Europe.