Korean carmaker targets high level of aftersales satisfaction with tech-driven service centres, well-trained personnel and a high level of transparency enabled by the Kia Link App.
02 Aug 2019 | 29038 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Twenty days ahead of the launch of its first product for India, the Seltos SUV, which has already received a good market response, Kia Motors India has announced that it will have a service network of 192 centres across 160 cities in India.
The Korean automaker says it ...
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Twenty days ahead of the launch of its first product for India, the Seltos SUV, which has already received a good market response, Kia Motors India has announced that it will have a service network of 192 centres across 160 cities in India.
The Korean automaker says it is committed to providing the best-in-class aftersales service to its customers in India. With an aim to offer a seamless and new-age car service and vehicle management, Kia will leverage IOT (Internet of Things) technology built into its ultra-modern Kia Link App.
Commenting on the new-age car servicing and management initiatives from Kia Motors in India, Manohar Bhat, VP and Head – Marketing and Sales, Kia Motors India said, “As a global leader in customer satisfaction initiatives, Kia Motors has been a frontrunner in raising the bar higher by giving the best of aftersales services to our customers. Kia Motors India brings in the similar level of quality and hassle-free experience as we command some of the most advanced tech-driven service centres in the country. Our spare parts network ensures spare parts are available across the country with 4 PDCs (Parts Despatch Centres) in Chennai, Navi Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Kolkata. We are confident that such a mix of both sales and service facilities will quickly instil the confidence of Indian customers in our brand."
Aiming for high customer satisfaction
Easing the process of scheduling a service appointment, Kia vehicle owners will get notified via the Kia Link App about an upcoming or service due reminder. The Kia Link App also enables booking an appointment at a preferred dealer. To eliminate delays and digitise the process, the workshops are equipped with RFID scanners which identify a car through RFID technology.
This would be followed by allocation of a service advisor who will diagnose the car digitally at the e-Vehicle Health Check-up bay and share the report with the customer via the dedicated Kia Link Dealer App with real-time updates and progress on the repair work.
The overall aim, according to Kia, is to make the overall operations paperless and also provide a seamless experience to the customer. Furthermore, the service centres would leverage Kia’s extensive and well-equipped Mobis Network for timely delivery of parts through its four PDCs in Chennai (South), Navi Mumbai (West), Delhi-NCR (North) and Kolkata (East).
Through the Kia Link App, customers will be informed of the ongoing work by the service advisor with periodic alerts, thereby increasing transparency around the total time consumed and the cost of repair and service. After the final inspection of the car, customers would be apprised of completion of work. This will be followed by the customer receiving an explaination of the finer details of work required or done via KCVG (Kia Customer Visual Guide). The Kia Link App allows for digital payment via the payment gateway in-built into the app.
Highly trained service personnel
The carmaker says the aftersales and service program will be carried out with utmost precision by Kia Motors India’s highly trained technicians who have undergone skill enhancement and training programs at one of Kia’s training centres in Faridabad, Navi Mumbai and Bangalore. Training centres are equipped to train the dealer staff on dedicated bays for mechanical repair, body and paint repair, EV training, sales training, role play, system trainings, digital and virtual training experience and broadcast room training.
Each training centre, spread over 23,000 feet, is a state-of-the-art multiple training facility. All the training centres have been in operation since June 2019 and Kia Motors has trained over 2,400 dealer staff so far.