KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Sime Darby Motors boosted its presence in the Asia-Pacific region with its entry into Taiwan, following its appointment as the official, sole and exclusive assembler of Kia passenger vehicles in the country.

Sime Darby Motors, via its wholly wned subsidiary Sime Darby Kia Taiwan Co Ltd, has signed technical licence agreements with Kia Motors Corp to assemble completely knocked down (CKD) Kia passenger vehicles.

“This appointment marks another major accomplishment and is integral to our vision to become a leading automotive player in the Asia-Pacific region,” Sime Darby Motors executive vice president Datuk Lawrence Lee said in a statement today.

“Our operations in Taiwan are expected to commence by the second half of 2014 with the launch of the first two CKD models,” he said.

These are the Kia Picanto, a compact and affordable city car, and Kia Carens, a mid-sized MPV (multi-purpose vehicle).

These two models will be later complemented by Kia Rio, another compact city car that has proven to be highly popular worldwide.

“The emphasis will be on the CKD segment due to its popularity in the Taiwanese market,” Lee said.

Kia has been absent from the Taiwanese market since 2008 and Sime Darby Motors is confident of regaining the brand’s strong foothold in the country.

“Kia as a brand is re-entering the Taiwanese market in a more strategic manner as we are aware of the need to recapture the market’s attention,” said Lee.

“We plan to put in place a comprehensive marketing strategy to ensure that the brand is able to effectively connect to its customers, thus growing its market share in Taiwan.”

According to the Taiwan Vehicle Manufacturers Association, domestic vehicle sales for 2012 were at 270,078 units, with the passenger car segment making up 211,578.

Major brands include Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Ford and Honda, which are also primarily assembled locally.

Sime Darby Motors is one of the major players in the automotive industry and luxury marque in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Thailand, Macau, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Its business activities vary from country to country, and include importation, assembly, distribution and retail of vehicles.

It is one of the five core divisions within the Sime Darby Group, a Malaysian-based diversified multinational group.

Sime Darby Motors represents various brands and luxury marques for passenger vehicles ranging from BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce, Porsche, Jaguar, Lamborghini and McLaren to Hyundai, Land Rover, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen and Mitsubishi.

It has distributorships of commercial vehicles such as Hino, Volvo and Mack in New Zealand.

In Australia, it operates Corefleet, the leading supplier of light commercial vehicles and lease solutions to the mining, oil and gas and civil construction sectors across Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.

Sime Darby Motors assembles various Hyundai passenger and commercial vehicles as well as BMW, Land Rover, Mazda and Mini passenger vehicles through its subsidiary, Inokom Corporation in Kulim, Kedah. It also represents the Hertz car rental business in Malaysia and Singapore. — Bernama