Kia has signed an agreement with Vodafone to explore business opportunities in telematics services in Europe.

The initial agreement is expected to boost Kia's competitiveness in vehicle IT systems and reach out to a wider customer base in Europe.

Kia will focus on creating new business opportunities based on automotive IT systems and Vodafone's existing communications network in Europe.

As well as collaborating on the development of new services, Kia will develop new automotive IT solutions by using the telematics infrastructure to build a new customer-oriented business model.