Kia highlights best UK dealerships and sets out its stall for 2025

Grainger Group has swept up multiple awards as part of Kia's 2024 Dealer Excellence Awards and the Korean brand has also set out its stall for 2025.

The 2024 outright ‘Dealer of the Year’ was awarded to Grainger Group's Mantles (Royston).

The dealership further won an impressive three out of four awards for ‘Sales Excellence’, ‘Customer Experience’, and ‘EV Excellence’.

Mantles (Royston) is no stranger to Kia’s Dealer Excellence Awards, having last year earned the number two place behind only three-time previous winner Gravells (Bridgend).

Second and third place went to EMG (Cambridge) and EMG (Thetford) respectively, which are also owned by the Grainger Group.

These dealers further received ‘Highly Commended’ certificates across the ‘Sales Excellence’, ‘After Sales Excellence’ and ‘EV Excellence’ categories, showcasing their talents across a broad spectrum of the business.

The 2024 winner of the ‘After Sales Excellence Award’ was Gravells (Hereford). This dealership was previously the winner of the 2023 ‘Customer Experience Award’ and this year received a ‘Highly Commended’ certificate in the same category, as well as for ‘EV Excellence’.

The annual Kia Dealer Excellence Awards celebrate performance across the network of 190 UK Kia dealerships.

The dealerships were recognised as part of Kia UK's annual National Dealer Conference, which was held in Liverpool.

Attended by more than 1,000 Kia dealer staff and employees, the conference opened with a new mantra for the coming year: ‘Take the Lead’.

The brand said the phrase "encapsulates what Kia has already achieved, as well as what it must continue to do to embrace the opportunities 2025 brings and meet the UK’s wider transition towards electric vehicles".

Dealer partners are the backbone of Kia's business

Kia said its ongoing success in the UK can be attributed to its cars, but also its dealer partnerships that "form the backbone of the business and which consistently provide a quality front-line service for customers".

Paul Philpott, president and chief executive of Kia UK, said: "In 2024, Kia experienced record sales which is testament to the exceptional commitment of our dealers to our customers.

"Recognising their dedication and incredible achievements is a very proud moment for Kia UK.

“As we celebrate this success, we are excited to look ahead.

"This year opens further opportunities for us and our dealer partners to take the lead with our brand.

"Kia is already well-positioned with Government regulations, with half of our vehicles sold being electrified models, and this year we embark on our first full sales year of the EV3 and a busy portfolio of more EV launches.

"With a clear strategy, continuous innovation and the unwavering support of our dealer network, I am confident that we will achieve even greater milestones.

"We are immensely proud of our dealer partnerships and the challenges we have and will continue to overcome together.”

Kia has plans to strengthen its model line-up with the launch of more models in 2025.

This will include the new EV6 GT, EV4 and EV5 fully electric models, as part of the company’s journey to have launched nine fully electric cars in the UK by 2027 (starting from the EV6 in 2021).

This year will also see the Kia PV5 launched, the brand’s first fully electric van and Kia’s re-entry into the light commercial vehicle market.

2024 Kia Dealer Excellence Award winners:

2024 Dealer of the Year

• 1st Mantles (Royston)
• 2nd EMG (Cambridge)
• 3rd EMG (Thetford)

Sales Excellence Award

• 1st Mantles (Royston)

Highly commended:

• Arnold Clark (Cumbernauld)
• Ashford Orbital
• Burton Kia
• EMG (Cambridge)
• EMG (Kings Lynn)
• EMG (Thetford)
• Lloyd (Carlisle)
• Piccadilly Motors (Knaresborough)
• Shelly Motors (Epsom)

After Sales Excellence Award

• 1st Gravells (Hereford)

Highly commended:

• EMG (Cambridge)
• EMG (Ely)
• EMG (Thetford)
• Flear & Thomson (Perth)
• Gravells (Bridgend)
• Gravells (Narberth)
• Mantles (Royston)
• Premier Automotive (Dukinfield)
• Stoneacre (Grimsby)

Customer Experience Award

• 1st Mantles (Royston)

Highly commended:

• Brentwood Kia
• Drayton Motors (Louth)
• F J Chalke (Mere)
• Gravells (Hereford)
• Ken Jervis (Stoke-on-Trent)
• Lloyd (Carlisle)
• Perrys (Burnley)
• Stoneacre (Wallasey)
• Wessex (Cardiff)

EV Excellence Award

• 1st Mantles (Royston)

Highly commended:

• Boongate (Peterborough)
• EMG (Cambridge)
• EMG (Thetford)
• Gravells (Hereford)
• Group 1 (Coulsdon)
• Howards (Weston Super Mare)
• Ken Brown (Stevenage)
• Lloyd (Carlisle)
• Startin (Warwick)