Kia Motors America gets ready to rock this Summer with 2012 Vans Warped Tour

IRVINE, Calif., June 13, 2012 - Kia Motors America (KMA) is hitting the road as the "Official Vehicle of the 2012 Vans Warped Tour^®" and for a fifth straight year will entertain concertgoers in nearly 40 U.S. cities with live music performances from today's biggest rock and indie bands and a variety of interactive activities and events at the Kia Soul Lounge. New for 2012, Kia will be the official sponsor of the tour's two main stages – the Kia Soul Stage and Kia Rio Stage – with a platform set as part of the rigging between the stages to display the Kia Soul urban passenger vehicle.

"Since our wildly popular Soul launched in 2009 with a trio of paw-tapping hamsters, music has helped move the Kia brand into the mainstream and raise consumer awareness amongst a younger, previously untapped demographic," said Michael Sprague, vice president, marketing & communications, KMA. "Fresh off the viral sensation "Share Some Soul" campaign featuring LMFAO's hit single 'Party Rock Anthem,' the poll-topping Optima Limited Super Bowl commercial featuring Mötley Crüe's 'Kickstart My Heart' and our partnership with music sharing service Spotify, going back out on the road again with the Vans Warped Tour was an obvious fit as a way to maintain our status as a young, current and engaging brand."

In addition to enjoying hours of live music, including exclusive acoustic sets with top tour bands "Taking Back Sunday" and "All Time Low," fans can visit the Kia Soul Lounge – an interactive tent featuring a DJ, body painting stations and autograph sessions – and obtain information on Kia's lineup of stylish and fuel-efficient vehicles, including the 2013 Soul, which brings unique styling, impressive power, fun-to-drive performance and fuel efficiency to its segment; the 2013 Rio sub-compact that delivers class leading horsepower¹ and fuel economy of 40 mpg²; and the performance-inspired 2012 Forte Koup.

The Kia Soul Lounge also will feature fun activities and giveaways, including an interactive Create Your Own Beat music station and Find Your Tribe bandana station. The music station will offer concertgoers the opportunity to mix their own 15-30 second beat, which will then be mixed into a master beat for that city and loaded onto the Kia Soul Facebook page³ after each stop. For the Find Your Tribe game, attendees can sign-up to receive a unique code along with a bandana that has one of 10 tribal designs on it, and throughout the festival can find other people with the same designs to form a "tribe." Each member texts⁴ each other's codes to a designated number, earning both the tribe and individual members points with the top five of each receiving cool prizes.

Festival participants also may earn Kia VIP passes for exclusive access to a private riser near the main stage or on the two main stages themselves, providing shade and unobstructed views of some of the biggest performances throughout the day. As in previous years, Kia Motors' official Kia Warped Tour blogger, Steve Guttbinder, will provide fans with behind-the-scenes insights, videos and photos as well as answers to fans' questions throughout the tour. Steve's vlog can be accessed at Facebook.com/KiaSoul.

"Kia is an innovative company that understands the culture of Warped and their support allows us to bring back two main stages for the 2012 tour," notes Kevin Lyman, Vans Warped Tour founder and producer. "We are happy to have Kia Motors onboard with us for a fifth summer as the "Official Vehicle of the 2012 Vans Warped Tour^®."

Kicking off June 16 in Salt Lake City, the 2012 Vans Warped Tour will feature more than 90 punk, rock, hip-hop, rap, metal, indie rock and electronic artists including current chart-toppers, long-running legends, and the hottest up-and-comers.

Select tour dates and destinations of the tour include:

6/16 – Salt Lake City	7/6 – Auburn Hills, Mich.	7/30 – Charlotte, NC
6/20 – Las Vegas	7/18 – Scranton, Penn.	8/1 – Milwaukee
6/23 – San Francisco	7/20 – Camden, NJ	8/5 – Portland, Oreg.
6/28 – Glendale, Ariz.	7/22 – Hartford, Conn.
7/1 – Houston	7/26 – Atlanta

For more information on the Vans Warped Tour, including a full list of tour dates⁵ and any updates to the tour schedule, visit vanswarpedtour.com.

Kia's Unprecedented Growth
Kia Motors is one of the world's fastest moving global automotive brands; from 2009-2011 Kia launched more new vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker, and under the guidance of chief design officer Peter Schreyer earned a reputation as an industry leader in automotive styling. Kia Motors America's full line of fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive cars and CUVs has earned critical acclaim and dramatically increased consumer awareness, perception and consideration for the brand. In 2011, KMA recorded its 17th consecutive year of market share growth, thanks in part to the largest increase of any major brand in perceived quality⁶ and the industry's highest brand loyalty ranking⁷. Kia's U.S.-based manufacturing facility in West Point, Georgia – KMMG – is responsible for the creation of more than 10,000 plant and supplier jobs and builds two of the company's best-selling vehicles in the U.S. – the Sorento CUV and Optima midsize sedan*. Kia's value and technology-laden lineup also includes the Sportage compact CUV, Soul urban passenger vehicle, Optima Hybrid, Forte compact sedan, Forte 5-door compact hatchback, Forte Koup two-door coupe, Rio and Rio 5-door sub-compacts and Sedona minivan.

Courtesy of Kia Media