Kia kicks-off exclusive EURO 2008 activities

(SEOUL) June 9, 2008 -- Kia Motors Corporation kicked off two activities in Vienna last week to celebrate its status as an official UEFA EUROTOP partner and highlight its support for the EURO 2008 championships.

Kia 'Official Match Ball Carrier' On Thursday (5 June) the 31 winners of Kia's exclusive 'Official Match Ball Carrier' competition were announced at a special event in Vienna. Since January, the competition - for young football enthusiasts aged from 12 to 14 years to deliver the official match ball to the referee in the pitch centre circle immediately before the kick-off - had attracted more than 500,000 applicants across Europe.

The 31 winning young fans (and a parent or guardian) each win a three-day Kia hospitality package which will include, on Day 2, the unique ball carrying experience which each young winner will remember for their lifetime.

To win one of the 31 places, children had to enter their local 'Kia Family Football Challenge' (demonstrating their soccer skills, together with a parent) or submit an essay with photos, on the subject of 'Kia, Football and Family'. Kia allocated four Official Match Ball Carrier places to both host countries, Austria and Switzerland, two places to France, Germany and Netherlands, with the remaining 22 places spread across Europe.

Fleet of Kia cee'd cars complete 'Drive to Glory' On the eve of the championship (Friday, 6 June) Kia hosted the 'Drive to Glory' Finale at Vienna's Museumsquartier, one of the most famous cultural complexes in the city.

The 'Drive to Glory' competition challenged fans to design a unique livery for a Kia cee'd car using their national colours and elements of the official EURO 2008 graphics. The design should convey the winning spirit of their team and generate road-side excitement and cheering wherever the cee'd travelled.

The fleet of winning cee'd cars were positioned at both sides of the specially designed stage at the Museumsquartier and created a splendid scene which attracted numerous spectators to the ceremony. The festivities were attended by UEFA executives, EURO 2008 SA members and Vienna city officials.

As part of a multi-layered prize package, the 16 winning designers (together with a partner or friend) took part in Kia's 'Drive to Glory' - a car parade from Kia's Zilina assembly plant in Slovakia, where all cee'd cars are made, to Vienna. After the celebratory Finale in Vienna, all participants were flown to Geneva to be Kia's VIP guests at the match between Portugal and Turkey.