Kia provides 34 vehicles as official automotive sponsor of FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa while UEFA European Under 21 Championship accepts 46 Kia vehicles in Sweden.
Competitions in both continents to fan global football fever leading up to 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
Here at Summit Place Kia we wanted you to be aware of the fact that Kia Motors sponsors more than just events here in the United States. In fact, Kia is one of the official sponsors of both the FIFA Confederations Cup and the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Both events are tied in with the most popular sporting event in the world, football (we call it soccer here in the States).
Here, then, is the latest press release from Kia concerning these two events:
(SEOUL) June 8, 2009 — Kia Motors, a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart, is supplying official vehicles from its wide-ranging model line-up to transport athletes and VIPs at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 (June 14-28, 2009) and the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 (June 15-29, 2009).
In Johannesburg, South Africa, nine days before the official start of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, Kia Motors delivered its cars to Skhumbuzo Macozoma, Transport and Logistics Manager for the FIFA 2009 World Cup Local Organizing Committee, at a June 5th ceremony held at the Expo Centre. The ceremony was attended by 100 FIFA officials, Kia representatives and local press.
The fleet of cars delivered by Kia includes 24 of the company’s most popular models, including the Sorento, cee’d, Sedona and Sportage models. Kia Motors also supplied 10 buses to transport national team players and FIFA officials for protocol and transportation purposes.
“Kia Motors is delighted to be a part of the FIFA Confederation Cup,” said Soon-Nam Lee, Director of the Overseas Marketing Group, Kia Motors Corporation, in attendance at the ceremony. “Being involved actively in football marketing is an integral part of our vision to become a formidable player on the global automotive stage. We have made a strategic effort to boost our young and energetic brand identity by ramping up our presence in major sports sponsorships and to enhance Kia’s brand awareness worldwide.”
In Sweden’s Malmo Football Arena, Kia handed over a fleet of 46 vehicles to transport teams, VIPs, officials and referees at the finals in Sweden for the UEFA European Under-21 tournament. The fleet includes a range of comfortable and safe Kia flagship cars, including the luxury Opirus, Sorento, cee’d and recently launched Soul cross-over. The June 5th ceremony was attended by Karl-Erik Nilsson, the championship’s Tournament Director, Deputy Tournament Director Bo Sundstrom and Andreas Bennetter, Fleet Manager for Kia Motors Sweden.
“After successfully sponsoring UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland,” said Jack Kim, President of Kia Motors Sweden, “Kia is proud to be partnering with the U21 championship. Supporting young athletes in pursuit of excellence is directly in line with our young-at-heart brand and drivers.” With two new stadiums built for the tournament, the Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg and the Malmö New Stadium, where the final will be staged on June 29th, Kia Motors has sponsored the Kia Venue Guide on UEFA’s official website (www.uefa.com). The guide provides information on the tournament’s four venues, their capacity, history, locations, as well as photos and downloadable wallpapers for the ‘plugged-in’ demographic in the region.
Throughout the two football competitions, Kia will leverage its sponsorship activity to demonstrate its sponsorship through on- and offline advertising, strategic logo placement throughout the events’ stadiums, and television broadcasting. The Kia brand will also be prominently featured on the official events’ websites.
As part of its marketing activities, Kia Motors will display the Soul, among other models, and offer test drives near the stadiums to demonstrate the high quality, reliability and prestige of its vehicles.
Kia will also showcase two Soul models decorated with images of the teams competing in the FIFA Confederations Cup at major stadiums. FIFA has organized the Ticket Fund program that will distribute category IV tickets free of charge to South African residents during the FIFA Confederations Cup. The Ticket Fund is a socially responsible initiative to benefit social or human development activities in South Africa. Kia, as an official partner, committed to sustainability, will fully support FIFA’s initiative by distributing 4,500 tickets to college students who participate in the “Green Goal Project.”
The Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has signed a strategic sponsorship agreement with UEFA and FIFA that covers international games hosted by the associations, including EURO 2008, FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, as well as the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
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Photo captions: (South Africa) Left to right: Ray Levin, Kia Motors South Africa President; TJ Park, Deputy General Manager, Middle-East & Africa Regional Headquarters; Soon-Nam Lee, Director, Overseas Marketing Group; Skhumbuzo Macozoma, Transport & Logistics Manager, FIFA 2009 World Cup Local Organizing Committee; FIFA 2009 World Cup Local Organizing Committee Members; Myoung-Hwa Park, FIFA.
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(Sweden) Left to right: Johan Märtensson, Kia Motors Sweden South Regional Manager; Andreas Bennetter, Kia Motors Sweden Fleet Manager; Jack Kim, Kia Motors Sweden President; Karl-Erik Nilsson, U-21 Tournament Director; Bo Sundstrom, U-21 Deputy Tournament Director.
About FIFA Confederations Cup
A football tournament for national teams, FIFA Confederations Cup is contested by the winners of each of the six FIFA confederation championships in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America, and North, Central America and Caribbean, along with the current World title holder and the host country. For this reason, it is often called the Champions of Champions tournament.
Eight teams are playing in this year’s competition, including host nation South Africa, reigning champion Italy, Egypt, Iraq, Spain, US, New Zealand and Brazil.
About UEFA European Under-21 Championship
The first U21 Championship final in 1978 set the standard for the rest to follow. During the tournament, the continent’s most exciting young players offer a tantalising glimpse into what the future of European football might hold. Today’s eight-team (Sweden, England, Finland, Germany, Belarus, Serbia, Italy and Spain) final tournament enjoys worldwide acclaim, but it has evolved considerably since UEFA first put the idea to its member associations in January 1967.
The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship will be staged in four cities in Sweden: Halmstad, Helsingborg, Gothenburg and Malmo on the country’s west coast.
Soccer – almost as much fun as driving a Kia
Although watching a soccer match is exciting, it’s not nearly as much fun as watching our customers test drive and then fall in love with one of our new Kias. To see what we mean, come on down and pay us a visit. For an appointment, or for more information on the rest of the entire line-up of high quality, affordable Kias, you can contact us at our Waterford store by calling 248-682-6002 or by dialing 734-397-9900 for our Canton store. Our Waterford store is located at 2200 Elizabeth Lake Road just behind the Summit Place mall and our Canton store is located at 41840 Michigan Avenue, just west of I-275. Once you’re there, you’ll see why everyone at metro Detroit’s sales leader would “Love to see ‘ya” in a Summit Place Kia!
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 am
2010 is just around the bend and those who qualified are already raring to show the world which among them is the best in football. The best soccer players in the world are participating too. The world will surely be watching. - Jenny