Watchdog: Kia gets a hiding over leather mix-up

When is leather not genuine leather? When it comes on a high-spec Kia. That’s what dissatisfied Sportage owners have found, after the business modified the spec listing on its website.
Dr Chris Castelli from Swindon in Wiltshire got in touch with car reveal to complain. “About a year ago, I gotten a Sportage KX-3 with full leather,” he said. “I’m a member of an owners’ forum, as well as a bit while back somebody on there observed that an asterisk had been added to the on the internet spec details.
Advertisement – short article continues below

“This asterisk was linked to a footnote that said: ‘Some parts of the leather upholstery include artificial leather.’”
A contact us to client services verified that the disclaimer used to vehicles developed as well as offered before it was added. “We all feel like we’ve been misled,” stated Chris. “The original pamphlet explained ‘luxurious full leather’, however when you really ask Kia about this, it turns out there’s really extremely bit leather used. It’s primarily plastic or vinyl.”
We asked Kia if it agreed it had misled clients as well as whether it would be using dissatisfied owners compensation.
A spokeswoman told us the phrase ‘full leather’ was meant to differentiate it from the part-leather upholstery (which combines leather as well as cloth) utilized on lower-spec models. as well as that the utilize of artificial leather was typical among manufacturers.