Kia Corporation has announced it is moving to a principal-led model in Malaysia, with Kia Sales Malaysia set to manage the brand’s sales, aftersales, training as well as all wholesale and retail operations in our market effective January 1, 2026.
Established on November 3 this year, Kia Sales Malaysia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kia Corporation and would be the equivalent of Honda Malaysia, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and other OEMs directly controlled by their respective HQs – Hyundai went through a similar transition in June this year. Kia Sales Malaysia will be led by Hyung Ho Kim as its president and CEO, with ex-Omoda | Jaecoo vice president Emily Lek set to formally become its managing director effective January 2026.
“Kia is excited to reinvigorate our brand presence in Malaysia. We believe our innovation- and customer-centric strategy will enhance how fans experience the brand as we continue to support the growth of Malaysia’s economy and automotive industry. We are here to stay and, aligned to our ‘Movement That Inspires’ brand vision, we are dedicated to building a future that inspires new experiences and sustainable mobility,” said Ki Seok Ahn, president and CEO of Kia Asia Pacific.
“Among the milestones the automotive industry and fans of the brand can anticipate from the new principal-led move include enhancements to the Kia dealer network, investments in aftersales service and new model launches,” the company wrote in its release.
If you’re wondering why the company isn’t just called ‘Kia Malaysia’, that’s because there’s already a company by that name here – KMSB – that manages Kia’s local assembly operation in Kulim, Kedah. KMSB was formed after Kia Motors partnered with Bermaz Auto (BAuto) in April 2021, which also saw the appointment of BAuto’s subsidiary Dinamikjaya Motors as the South Korean brand’s official distributor in Malaysia.
The Kia-BAuto partnership has since been concluded and the transition process is currently ongoing. At present, customers can continue to engage with authorised Kia service centres for their aftersales needs, and all vehicle bookings made before November 30 will continue to be fulfilled. However, new bookings will be temporarily paused for the entire month of December 2025.
“We thank Bermaz Group for their dedication to the Kia brand over the past four years and the seamless handover during this transition period. The return of Kia operations to a principal-led model is timely as the market remains hungry for new experiences and value from automotive brands,” commented said Hyung Ho Kim.
“We are grateful to our loyal fans for staying with us through the years and look forward to curating an inspiring ownership experience that proves why a Kia is designed to meet the unique lifestyle needs of both existing and new fans alike,” he added.
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Last time we treated Korean cars as a cheaper and more premium option to Japanese cars. Now, China cars have taken over the job. Korean cars are as expensive as Japanese cars which make them lost their competitiveness in Malaysia.
Toyota and honda is still top 2 non-national and far ahead of other brands. Get your facts right
Ayy that’s great. Hope they do well and price their cars to compete with H and T.
get K4 in malaysia
So, basically, Berjaya failed big time in building up Kia’s brand presence and market share in Malaysia. A principal-led operation may not necessarily be any better. After Hyundai took over from Sime Darby, the overall market reception towards Hyundai’s offerings is still lukewarm. Nonetheless, wishing Hyundai and Kia best of luck, considering the strong competition from Chinese auto brands that’s giving headache to everyone in the market, even our local car brands.
Well you said it yourself.. that a principal-led op may not necessarily be any better. perhaps it was the principal’s part which caused the issue in the first place – that could have been the case. such things happen.
Poor Bermaz Auto. But also showing to the world they didn’t do a good job. Lacking in passion and talent, and ideas of how to market products in a fiercely competition environment.
The success of Mazda was pure luck, instead Mazda cars sold by itself. Otherwise Kia cars could sell well. It wasn’t an easy task though with Bermaz coming in 2012. And several years before that, under Prima Merdu. I think…
Kia K3 PHEV
Kia Niro PHEV
Kia EV5
are they coming to compete with BYD, Chery, Jaecoo, Jetour, iCaur and Proton Geely Zeekr ?
I see the chance of “Naza Ria” return, empowering the MPV market.
same story for xpeng in the future, bermaz is too greedy so they always fail to promote a brand properly
The Japs dominated in the 70s all the way to the 2010s. The Koreans came to Malaysia in the late 90s to try and put a dent in the market.
Not quite a dent after 30 years, and now the Chinese have put a huge dent in the value-for-money stakes. Cheaper than the Japs, with all the bells and whistles. They even make the Saga a better car lol.
So I am not holding my breath with the Koreans. Remains as niche brands I guess, with small volumes and maybe one loss leader that moves the meter a bit.
Don’t get me wrong. KIA and Hyundai make great cars, good EVs too. But pricing remains an issue, and somehow after sales cost is high as well.
But good luck. Better for the buyers I guess.
Berjaya still wanna sell Mazda 3 at RM170k ? Bunch of selfish execs..
A new Mazda3 can be had for 120K now la.
that RM120k mazda3 only has a 1.5 liter engine , and is slower than the proton saga which is one-third the price.
It’s not BERJAYA, it’s BERMAZ. They’re different companies. Please double-check before posting a complaint.
Still enjoy driving my Kia Rio UB. Korean cars sucks at fuel efficiency but other than that, the experience has been positive for me overall. I hate the aftersales services from Naza Kia but luckily there are a few authorized SC that are willing to go the distance to make up for it.
Please give malaysia models like those in Brunei. If Kia can export those other models to Brunei, why can’t Malaysia have the same? It’s also very close.
Hope Kia bring their car with apropriate pricing and spec.Establish proper channel for after sales and apropriately price spare part ..it just doesnt make sense that spare part is more expensive and difficult to source compare to VAG car and BMW..I hope kia and hyundai understand that..But if the strategy is about being niche player then can continue Bermaz strategy..
anything that comes from Bermaz will be always overprice and cut throat.
They will close shop soon due to the pricing strategy.
I think Kia Malaysia should introduce more affordable models in the local market. Currently, models like the Picanto, Rio, and Cerato are not available, which limits options for buyers looking for budget-friendly choices. To stay competitive especially with the rapid growth of Chinese car brands, Kia needs to offer more value-oriented models that appeal to a wider range of customers.