With the price of dropping the jaw in Toxon, KIA agents are immersed with calls-sports buyers want to recover the recovered amounts, while others are guessing their journey.
This announcement came from Hyundai, but phones began to ring in KIA showrooms throughout the country. In one of the suburbs, Hyundai rocked the growing and competitive SUV market.
The Hyundai Tucson 2025 Hybrid series was launched at the price of a recently presented Kia Sportage price. While this means interest in Huyndai, KIA customers’ response was immediate and loud. The Tucson Hybrid Smart base begins at a price of 1.09 rupees – relaxing with more than 8 Rs.
The price difference in the basic variable, which is about one million rupees, caused a stir in the car market, with reports on KIA customers who have cars in pipelines and the agents requested whether they would get a discount or not, and customers who have already bought their cars worried about the meaning of this to the value of resale.
The price difference looks particularly flagrant to customers because Sportage and Tucson are two cars in the same sector and direct competitors. It is appropriate to be called Corolla and CIVIC from the compact SUV segment. While the Kia and Hyundai complex in Pakistan differ, both Kia Sportage and Hyundai are located under the South Korean manufacturing group called Hyundai Motor Group. Moreover, Hyundai offers better driving options, hybrid technology as a standard, and even AWD variable – while Kia does not offer any kind of AWD and two variables that were not hybrids.
With customers who have already booked Sportage are demanding a decrease in prices, pointing to the aggressive prices of TUCSON, the next step for KIA is not yet clear.
The background: Kia’s dominant position one day
There was a time when Kia ruled the compact SUV segment. In fact, one may even say that Kia was the reason that the part that opened in Pakistan for the first time. What is ironic is that when Kia Sportage first hit the road, it was an aggressive and competitive pricing that made it a popular and connected car.
Sportage disrupted the market and made Kia a family name by providing a SUV in the same price range as Top of Line Line. In the period 2019-20, you can pay an additional 5 rupees on the price of Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla Grande and get SUVs instead. The success of the company was supported by Sharp, a distinct image compared to Chinese smoking, and the first engine feature that left its competitors to scramble. But with the latest version of Sportage, could Kia had missed a trick when it comes to pricing?
Consumer reaction
The Kia Sportage 2025 collection includes a non-Hijri-SPORTAGE LWD-price at 11,825,000 PKR, and Sportage L Hibrid Hybrid at 12,850,000 PKR (SPORTAGE Alpha discussion is relatively meaningful because it is not comparable with any of the variables of Tucson). No variables provide payment with all wheels. On the contrary, Hyundai’s Tucson offers a hybrid option, one – Tucson Hybrid – on AWD and its price is still less than Sportage Hev. For consumers, do not add numbers. Why does Sportage cost more, provide fewer payment options, and includes a non -Hijri variable in a sector that clearly turns towards electric motors?
It is Déjà Vu for many, smartly from the previous pricing errors in KIA. the braveIt was launched as a leader of the beginners, originally priced at more than 62 Rs. This pricing strategy was not logical until the Lucky Motors suddenly reduced its price by 15 rupees for Cham to connect it to 47.67 amazing cheese. The car suddenly became a hot seller, as more than 700 units move in just three days. This price reduction was not just a market strategy – it was controlling.
Read more: The extreme drop in the price of Kia Stonic is the price of pressure, organizational capacity and high margins. This is what happened behind the scenes
Then there Soronto– Perhaps a clearer example of how the car is not priced. It was served at an embarrassing price between Premium and Mass-Market sectors, Sorento struggled to find buyers. The car has never started, and until this day is still one of the most flagrant prices in the memory of modern industry.
Read more: Kia Sorento 101: How is a car not looked at
Rumors revolve again that KIA may decrease SPORTAGE prices in response to the strong Hyundai movement, but so far, nothing has been confirmed. The profit reached the CEO of KIA, Mohamed Faisal, with a detailed questionnaire on the logic of the company’s prices, sales strategy, and future plans. Despite many calls and follow -up, he did not respond.
The most loyal Kia customers – who rushed to reserve the new Sportage at all – now find themselves at a meal. In the event of a decrease in prices, this will leave these first adopters carrying a product that reduces its value immediately. The psychological blow is real: they bought early, paid a bonus, and they may soon see that value standing if Kia is forced to set prices. This damage to the brand’s numbness is not easily fixed. These are not just buyers of cars – they are the evangelists brand who supported Kia when he drove the market. The instability of pricing sends such a wrong message to the new customers and repeat.
What makes this moment difficult to move is that it gives Kia competitors the perfect opening. Tucson from Hyundai has already made an offer to fill the position of market pioneer through its aggressive prices, and brands such as Haval, MG and Proton target the same high -grade high -class buyers with valuable packed offers and tormented designs.
Another factor that may cost both the KIA and Hyundai market is the development of their slow product. SPORTAGE is six years without changing the shape, and Tucson Five. In an increasing competitive space, this type of recession creates a space for new expatriates to look more virtual. Although the two companies are now updating their models, some consumers may have already moved.
While KIA and Hyundai still have a reliable feature imagined on Chinese manufacturers – thanks to their longer presence, best spare parts networks, and stronger resale values - the edge will not last forever. Hyundai has taken its movement, and if KIA does not respond decisively, you may not only lose its share in the market, but also imagine the leadership that worked hard.
Margins above the size?
Kia can also try a different strategy this time. KIA’s current approach appears to give priority to the high margins of each unit for capturing the broader market. In theory, this first distinguished strategy may attract shareholders or suitable for limited production scenarios, but they are increasingly separate from the real circumstances of Pakistan. Consumers today face unprecedented economic pressure, and car patients – even in the top layer – difficult. The Hyundai step suggests a size -oriented strategy: selling more cars on more compact margins, market share growth, and building loyalty over time. Kia, on the other hand, appears to be intended for profitability for each unit at risk of losing its foothold. Whether this strategy can work in an enlarged market, a market -sensitive market like Pakistan is still very doubtful.
But Kia is in a narrow place. If it maintains its current prices, it risks customer loss for its brotherhood brand. If this reduces prices, it risk alienating those who have already bought at launch. Without any clear indication, whether the international face plastic surgery will be brought to Pakistan, vehicles are uncertain. KIA’s path forward needs clarity – be through a more competitive pricing model, timeline to modernize the product, or even new model introductions to block the value gap. The current approach may have succeeded in a different economic context, but the game has changed. Consumers are more intelligent, hungry for value, and they no longer buy a brand cache.
