Kia Dealer-Friendly, With Limits

The dealer who called told me he had heard Kia could be off-the-wall and unpredictable. I assured him, that's not what I am hearing. Apparently, Kia was pursuing him to buy an existing underperforming dealership. In the end, I think my conversation persuaded him to do the deal. Yes, they all have public companies owning their dealerships, but that doesn't mean they're comfortable. As a matter of fact, Group 1 sold 31,000 Toyotas last year. The dealership chain is extremely profitable and well run. Obviously, the reason for termination of the deal by Kia is not totally on the surface. Here's where the sweater continues to unravel and takes me in still another direction. In a Google search for Kia statistical information, I came across a reference to Kia, fellow-Korean Hyundai and Japanese Subaru as the only auto brands that have improved U.S. sales each of the past three years. Okay, Kia is on fire. So is Hyundai, and Subaru is doing quite well.