September 2008

Westdrive celebrates local baby boom with unique offer

Recognising that families who have enjoyed a multiple birth require a car that offers the right amount of space, at the right price, Westdrive is offering a unique deal on its Kia Sedona until the end of September 2008.

Couples across Essex and London that have enjoyed a multiple birth in the last 18 years can take home a brand new Sedona with a discount proportional to the size of birth:

SAVING
* Twins - £1,000 off
* Triplets - £1,500 off
* Quads - £2,000 off
* Quins - £2,500 off

The Kia Sedona starts from £16195 OTR.

Westdrive has recognised that parents with a growing, and potentially older, family need a vehicle that delivers space and luxury at a down-to-earth price.  The large MPV has seven flexible seats and twin sliding doors that provide easy storage and access to your tribe.

Meanwhile, Westdrive is also continuing to recognise the strain put on new parents who are in need of a compact MPV that can adapt as their family grows.  Those less than half a year into parenthood, or expecting in the next six months, can still take advantage of a number of discounts on Kia’s Carens.

Available with a choice of either five or seven seats, the Carens is a highly flexible compact choice and those expecting quins are eligible to take one home for free.

With both the offer and the vehicle ideal for those starting a young family, the discount available is relative to the number of births. Discounts include:

SAVING
* One baby - £500 off
* Twins - £1,000 off
* Triplets - £1,500 off
* Quads - £2,000 off
* Quins - FREE 7 Seat Carens

With the offer only lasting until the end of September 2008, parents should not delay and visit Westdrive as soon as possible.  For more information please call.

The Kia Carens starts from £10995 OTR and now Carens comes with an impressive 5 year unlimited warranty.

Kia cee'd busts the residual value guides at auction - and changes the rule books!

Kia cars are proving to be hot property at auction with buyers paying well above the guide prices for a wide variety of models.  So much so that CAP, one of the leading industry guides for used car prices, has taken the rare step of adjusting their Kia guide prices upwards.

This year Kia and BCA have been holding a series of auctions at the Measham site and large audiences have been there to snap up used Kias such as Picanto, cee’d, Carens and Sportage.  Almost without exception the demand has been so strong that prices have not just outperformed basic guide prices but smashed the premium values quoted by organisations such as CAP and Glass’s.

The Kia cee’d made its auction debut in February and whilst the average sale price for all Kias was 101 per cent of CAP cee’d bust the scale at 112 per cent.  This was no one off.  The success continued in March – every Kia in the auction was sold with the in-demand Picanto reaching 108 per cent whilst cee’d scored a huge 120 per cent of CAP, busting their predicted residual values.

Swayed by these performances, CAP reviewed its prices and increased their guide values for the cee’d family by around five per cent.  This means existing cee’d customers are finding the values of cars on the driveways have increased.

The latest auction, held Friday April 4, saw a number of Picantos sell for 102 per cent whilst cee’d continued at 105 per cent.  This is the first time cee’d has been to auction since CAP adjusted their values and the guide prices are still being beaten.

These auction prices reinforce the trend that Kia has seen over the last year – low residual values quoted by uncertain guide setters are being consistently left behind in the real world showing how traders, dealers and customers recognise the true value of Kia’s well-designed and solidly built vehicles backed by the best car warranties in Europe – especially cee’d with its bumper-to-bumper seven year warranty.

Kia Motors UK Ltd. Used Car Remarketing Manager, David McCluskey said: ‘The development of the Kia brand and its product has been so dramatic and rapid over the last few years that residual values in guide books, and amongst some of the financial houses, have been unable to keep up.  CAP is seeing this development and we are very happy they have increased residual value guide prices by around five per cent.  But judging by these auction performances we feel there is still some way to go.

‘In auctions and on forecourts, customers and traders knew all along – Kia cars are worth much more than the guides say because they represent such good value and provide such reliable transport for used car buyers.  It is great news that the guides are starting to catch up!’ he added.

September 2007

KIA's safest car yet, now available at Westdrive

Kia’s European-designed and built cee’d family car has been awarded a 5-Star safety rating in the latest Euro NCAP crash test results.  The cee’d safety ratings – 5-Stars for Adult Protection, 4-Stars for Child Protection and 2-Stars for Pedestrian Protection – place it among the C-segment’s safest cars.  The Kia cee’d is currently available from Westdrive.

“The latest Euro NCAP result is a major landmark achievement for Kia.  The cee’d was designed, engineered and built in Europe, to meet or surpass the expectations of European consumers in every respect – including safety,” commented Andy Phillips Dealer Principal Westdrive Group.  

“The combination of the car’s many talents, plus the 5-Star safety rating and the unique Kia 7-Year warranty, will make the cee’d even more attractive to our customers, offering real peace-of-mind and low ownership costs.”

The Kia cee’d five-door hatchback, which is equipped with six airbags (front, side and curtain airbags) as standard, achieved good or excellent points scores in the front impact, side impact and child protection Euro NCAP tests.  All Kia cee’d cars are manufactured at Kia’s new assembly plant at Zilina in Slovakia.
 
For cee’d, Kia engineers initially concentrated on ensuring that the car had high levels of ‘active safety’ with good visibility, responsive and agile handling, and powerful braking, to enable Kia drivers to avoid accidents and other everyday motoring hazards.

For further information, please contact Westdrive, branches at Braintree, Romford and North London

Westdrive Celebrates Two More Awards For Its New Hatch

Westdrive Kia is celebrating a double award for one of the latest additions to its Braintree, Romford and Edmonton showrooms. The European designed cee’d has collected another two top awards and visitors to Westdrive showrooms are currently able to run the rule of the award-winning vehicle by taking it for a three day test drive.

Kia’s cee’d took the coveted Green Award in the Practical Caravan Towcar Awards 2007 and the title of Best Hatchback in the What Diesel Car? Awards.

The Towcar Awards 2007 are a collaboration between Practical Caravan, What Car? and the Camping and Caravanning Club. The magazines tested fifty cars and placed the cee’d at the top of the tree for being the most environmentally friendly package, saying that the cee’d was the car that ‘best blends towing ability with keen economy and low emissions’. The cee’d ‘impressed judges’ adding that it was ‘well built and well finished.’

The What Diesel Car? award was unveiled in the latest issue of the specialist magazine which placed the Golf as runner up. Of the Kia cee’d, What Diesel Car? said, ‘An athletic step forward from Kia sends a clear message to Ford, Vauxhall and Renault: game, set and hatch – Kia is premier cee’d.’

These two new awards join the Autocar Award for ‘Idea of the Year’, praising the cee’d and it’s seven year warranty and two awards from the Industry of Transport Management for Manufacturer of the Year and Warranty of the Year.

Andy Phillips, Dealer Principal, Westdrive said: ‘The Kia cee’d continues to be this year’s success story in Braintree and these awards underline its design, quality, engineering, style and the substance. The seven year warranty demonstrates Kia’s faith in the car, while the Green Award is particularly pleasing as the 1.6-litre diesel engine is entirely Kia designed and built. The cee’d has been received extremely well in the showroom since its launch and we are looking forward to more and more customers taking advantage of the three day test drive to find out why it is held in such high regard.”

Visitors to the Westdrive showroom’s can book a three day test drive by calling.