Is Kia going to follow Hyundai's lead and launch a luxury brand to compete with Lexus?

Kia vehicles are becoming more complex and expensive.

Toyota has Lexus, Hyundai has Genesis and now the powers that be in Kia Australia have shared their thoughts on a luxury sub-brand for themselves.

The prestige division seems like the next logical step for the automaker, which has moved from producing hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs for budget-conscious buyers in the past to today's seriously sophisticated offerings today, such as the new Sportage and Sorento SUVs, and soon the arrival of the EV6 electric vehicle, which not all is cheap.

Not only are Kia vehicles getting more expensive and expensive, but the opening of a prestigious sub-brand will follow in the footsteps of sister brand Hyundai, which launched its luxury brand Genesis in 2015.

It would also allow Kia to continue making cheap and fun models like the Picanto and Rio.

However, Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith is adamant that a luxury sub-brand will not emerge.

“Maybe, but not in my time,” he said.

“Lexus has been in the Australian market for over 30 years, so it takes a long, long time to develop a prestigious luxury brand, and that brings us back to what we want to do with the Kia brand in Australia.

“We need a sustainable reliable brand that can sell $20,000 cars and sell $100,000 cars. That's where we're going and where we want to go.

"We want to be able to sell this wide range of products exceptionally well, and I think that's more profitable than saying we're going to be a prestige brand."

Kia vehicles are getting more and more expensive and expensive.

Kia Australia head of product planning Roland Rivero explained that there is only room for one luxury brand within the Hyundai Motor Group.

“We like to think about it – and what we've heard from our bosses as well – is that Genesis is a prestigious brand for the group. So it's not the prestige Hyundai or the prestige Kia."    

While Genesis has a huge task ahead if it intends to catch up with Lexus, it's clear the brand is under concentrated pressure with the first GV70 and GV80 SUVs, as well as the new G70 and G80 sedans.