Why are Kia 4S stores being withdrawn?

[LeSophie]

4S internal shareholders no longer inject capital into 4S stores, and there is no working capital support, so they go bankrupt. The following is an introduction to Kia Motors related content: Kia Motors: Kia is Kia Motors Group, a Sino-foreign joint venture integrating automobile production and sales, established in December 1944, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Business scope: automobile sales service, the logo of Kia Motors consists of a bright red ellipse, white background and red KIA characters. Kia models include ForteCerato (Forte), CadenzaK7 (Cadenza), Sorento (Sorento), Sportage (Sportage), SportageR (Sportage R).

[KatherineFitz]

The Kia 4S store near my home closed last year, mainly because the car market is now too saturated. Domestic brands like BYD and Geely are selling like hotcakes, offering high cost-performance and fuel efficiency, while Kia's new car sales couldn't keep up, leaving the dealership with a pile of unsold inventory. With so many competitors, even promotions and discounts couldn't attract customers, leaving profits razor-thin. Fewer car owners came in for maintenance, and repair revenue also shrank. I checked the data online—Kia's market share has been declining year after year, so store closures were inevitable. This is quite inconvenient for us long-time car owners, as we now have to travel several kilometers just to replace a part. But the trend is clear—domestic and new energy vehicles are dominating. I heard the brand is making internal adjustments, scaling back stores in China to focus on other markets.

[McGabriel]

I worked in the automotive industry for several years, and the closure of Kia 4S stores is largely due to operational cost issues. In first-tier cities, rents have skyrocketed, with monthly costs starting at over 100,000 yuan, not including utilities and property fees. Employee salaries rise every year, and skilled technicians are hard to recruit. Kia cars are priced affordably, but after adding import taxes and shipping fees, profits aren’t enough to cover expenses. During the pandemic, business slowed down, maintenance customers decreased, and revenue hit rock bottom. The brand struggled in local competition, with few new customers and old ones leaving, often resulting in losses. The final decision was to cut inefficient outlets and optimize the layout. Car owners may feel service has declined, but management is trying to save the overall business.

[SavannahDella]

Young people buying cars nowadays hardly consider Kia anymore, directly switching to new energy vehicles or domestic big brands. It's normal for Kia 4S stores to close down—demand has changed. My friends are all rushing to order Teslas or Xpeng cars. Kia's gasoline vehicles have outdated designs and lack technological appeal, greatly reducing their attractiveness. During the SUV boom, Kia failed to keep up, leaving inventory unsold. With fewer stores, maintenance becomes difficult, creating a vicious cycle. Market feedback is swift; once preferences shift, the brand weakens. Kia needs to launch new electric vehicles to possibly recover.