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Kia K900 Dealers Limited to Less than 30 Percent Upon Launch

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K900 DealersWanting to get your hands on one of those fancy new K900 luxury sedans Kia’s been trying to sell you with a 15-year-old pop culture reference? Well, you might actually need to go on a hunt akin to Morpheus’ search for Neo in The Matrix after all: Edmunds is reporting that the K900 will be the recipient of something of a soft launch. When the $60,000 rear-wheel luxury sedan arrives later this month, it will appear at less than a third of all dealerships across the country. All told, not even 30 percent of America’s Kia dealers will be K900 dealers.

Edmunds spoke with Kia Motors America’s Scott McKee, who cited a somewhat rigorous (and, at $30,000, egregiously expensive) training experience for K900 dealers that aims to shift cultural perspectives and prepare those who will be selling the luxury sedan for their encounters with customers who may be otherwise used to the luxury dealer experience. While this elevation of experience is intended to benefit Kia customers, it will ultimately leave a number of lots across America without the brand’s new flagship vehicle.

Further, KMA’s executive VP of sales and marketing, Michael Sprague, confirms what we could pretty well assume with a revelation like this: most of the models available will launch in coastal markets, leaving Middle America largely without access to the K900.

“We are doing it in phases,” Sprague told Edmunds. “In Phase One we have about 220 dealers that have signed up to sell the vehicle. There was a business case behind it in terms of investing in training, investing in tools, investing in a showroom kit that we have put together to highlight the car. It is a significant investment for the dealer to make.”

The aforementioned kit for K900 dealers includes dark wood inlays upon which the vehicle will rest, display materials, and an “iPad-like device” that will display the car’s finer features.

Opinion time: in order to be a success, should there be more K900 dealers, or is Kia making the right move by making their luxury sedan more exclusive?