Kia sponsors Australian Open until 2013
January 19, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Kia has committed to sponsoring the Australian Open until 2013 and to deepen its relationship with tennis further by extending its partnership with world number one men’s ranked player Rafael Nadal as the company’s global brand ambassador.
Kia’s sponsorship of the 104th Australian Open continues to encourage greater off-court participation of fans by extending the popular KIA Fan of the Day vote to online audiences. The competition, which is a colorful and fun addition to the tournament, is decided by thousands of public votes. Each daily winner will have a chance to be voted the Fan of the Tournament and be awarded the grand prize.
Euisun Chung, President of Kia Motors Corporation said, “For our sponsorship to be effective we understand that we have to connect with the young-at-heart fans and give them something back. Unlike previous title sponsors, we did not insist on branding the tournament itself but focused on supporting other elements – the Kia Amateur Open, and the Kia Fan of the Day competitions – and work with Tennis Australia to make this the most complete sporting occasion of the year.”
The Australian Open is Kia’s longest running major global sports sponsorship and takes place in Melbourne from 19 January to 1 February 2009. Kia is the major sponsor and supplier of a fleet of 101 Kia tournament vehicles which will transport players, officials and VIPs safely and conveniently to and from Melbourne Park.
Tennis Australia CEO Steve Wood said, “Kia Motors long-term partnership will continue to win the hearts of Australian Open fans who represent a critical element of the tournament. Kia Motors’ ability to engage spectators through its sponsorship demonstrates its commitment to quality and fun. We are delighted that Kia Motors will continue to inject excitement into this year’s competition.”
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*****PRIMO!***** [And rightly so!]
What about the all new Cerato?
NOT happy about the stupid goose-neck on the boot lid, other than that IT-ALL-DEPENDS-ON-THE-PRICE!!
DONT bother selling it at Japanese price-level, needs to be less to get any interest
Cheers
F-0
Plenty of cars still use gooseneck hinges, especially brands that should know better (like TOYOTA).
Just another step on the inexorable path to credibility.
I really wish they would bring in the cee’d, which i reckon is the best car on sale today from hyundai/kia group. I know it’s very close to i30, but i really don’t like i30’s styling, looks rather korean. In my eyes, cee’d has a more european and contemporary design.
The new Cerato looks great. Hopefully it drives just as good as it looks.
It does have to priced under $20,000 though to get anywhere. Pricing should hopefully be around the i30 levels or maybe even lower since Kia is considered second fiddle to Hyundai.
There’s also no excuse for high prices from Kia and Hyundai since the AUD has not lost value against the KRW [South Korean Won] like it has with the YEN and EURO.
Yianni
Korean won drop value dramatically as well.
Have you watched Kia’s TV commercial during Australian Open anyone?
We saw this kind commercial some time ago… I could n’t remember which car company.
Then at last commercial, I could see the front part of car… “It’s Honda !!!!”
I checked Kia Aus web site for confirmation… Yes, it looks like new generation Honda face .
This car would be good car, but without design originality it just bad imitation.
Not an imitation. Hyundai – Kia have bought technology from Honda in the past. Have a close look at the current Hyundai Sonata and you will see it is based on the Honda Accord.
Car companies have shared and bought designs from each other since the dawn on the car. I can think of many examples.
It still s**ts me when people see the headlights on the new Cerato, and automatically say, oh its a Honda rip off, copy, imitation… if it had any other style headlights, morons like that wouldn’t even think it was anything like a Honda, get over yourself. Guess what, heaps of other cars have similar headlights as well, but when Kia have similar headlights, oh no!