Sponsorship

Kia Supports International Winter Games NZ

The snow may have been late arriving, but Kia is right behind and ready to support the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games, which takes place around various South Island venues from August 12-28. With 38 events, 22 sports and more than 1,000 athletes from 50 nations competing in front of a worldwide TV audience of millions, the Winter Games NZ organizers will be making full use of the fleet of Kia Sorento vehicles to ensure the event runs like clockwork.

It’s a timely return to the region for Kia, which makes use of the Southern Alps and, in particular at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds near Cardrona, to develop and hone the winter driving dynamics of its vehicles. The Proving Grounds were crucial in evaluating and validating the all-wheeldrive systems used by the award-winning Sportage and Sorento models and, fittingly, it is also the venue for the Winter Games cross country skiing event.

Now Kia is back as a premium sponsor with its flagship Sorento, driving key staff and VIPs in style and safety around the ice and snow venues, from Mt Hutt through to Queenstown and Dunedin. Each WGNZ official vehicle depicts spectacular graphics representing the different sports at the Games.

100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games Chief Executive, Arthur Klap, says the ongoing support of Kia Motors NZ has made the logistics of running an event in locations that a prone to icy and snowy road conditions a much easier prospect.

“It’s not only good to have reliable, safe and sure-footed transport to help keep this event on track when the roads are testing, but our people really enjoy being behind the wheel of such good looking vehicles – and they project the right image for a high-performance international event like ours,” says Mr Klap.

Kia Motors NZ General Manager Todd McDonald says the outstanding performance of the advanced AWD system in the Sorento has been proven over demanding environments and is ideal for the requirements of the Winter Games NZ organizers.

“Kia Motors engineers have developed the Sorento into a remarkably safe and capable vehicle and our own experience negotiating slippery roads in this region, has underlined that confidence. It is also extremely comfortable, with the flexibility to carry up to seven people in the three rows of seats, which is now a standard feature of all our Sorento models, or to ability to transport a significant quantity of luggage and equipment.”

The all-wheel-drive system in the Sorento is permanently on demand and in most driving conditions will power the front wheels only (to save fuel and component wear) until it senses slippery conditions, then directs drive to the wheels with the most traction. It can be locked into 50:50 all-wheel-drive in very slippery situations. In place of the previous low range gearing, Sorento has Hill Descent Control, which reduces the downhill momentum to a safe 8km/h and Hill Start Assist, which prevents the vehicle rolling back on a slope.

In addition to the current 2.2-litre R-series diesel engine that delivers small car fuel economy in a full-size vehicle, the Kia Sorento will soon become available in New Zealand with the latest 2.4-litre petrol engine and officials with the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games will be the first to try out this version. Not only is Kia the official vehicle of the Winter Games, but this year is also the principle sponsor of the Ice Hockey, Speed Skating and Figure Skating events taking place at the Dunedin Ice Stadium. This is the second Winter Games to be staged in New Zealand – the previous one was also supported by Kia Motors – and they’ll pair up again for its return in 2013.