KIA recently copped five prestigious awards in the JD Power 2023 US ALG Residual Value Awards, the highest by any brand.

The segment wins by Telluride (midsize SUVs with three-row seating), Sportage (compact SUVs), K5 (midsize Cars), Soul (micro SUVs), and Rio (small cars), led Kia to the best year-over-year improvement of any mass market brand in the annual evaluation.

Damien Kerr, general manager of ATL Automotive’s Oxford Road in St Andrew operation — distributors of Kia, hailed the brand as one to watch.

“Kia is the brand to watch; it has been producing exceptional cars for some time now and the never-ending flow of award wins are testament to their quality. Kia is known for offering a wide variety of vehicles that are designed to meet the needs and preferences of different types of buyers. They also have a reputation for delivering great value for the money, with many of their vehicles being priced competitively and Jamaica has responded incredibly to the brand since day one,” he told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.

“It’s been an incredible year for the brand both home and abroad with the news that Kia America completed its best retail sales year in company history in 2022. Kia Jamaica experienced similar successes with its best-ever year which saw the brand surge to number two in the market,” he continued.

The US JD Power ALG Residual Value Awards are the automotive industry standard in recognising vehicle models projected to hold the highest percentage of their manufacturer’s suggested retail price following a three-year period of ownership. This value retention is a key variable in the lease cost of a vehicle, underscoring an automaker’s success in the areas of long-term quality and design, as well as the overall desirability of automotive brands and their models.

“This year’s achievement by Kia speaks volumes about how far the brand has come,” said Eric Lyman, vice-president of ALG, the division of JD Power recognised as the industry benchmark of automotive residual value projections.

“The marketplace is acknowledging that Kia has a very strong product line-up in terms of design, quality and residual values. Kia has become a force to be reckoned with,” he continued.

JD Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modelling capabilities to understand consumer behaviour, JD Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on JD Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.