A healthy stock level is an amount of cars that could be sold within a two-month period, according to the dealers' chamber. A dealer that sells an average of 50 cars monthly could retain 100 units of overstock and be regarded as healthy.
Many Dongfeng Yueda Kia showrooms now have about 20 sales units each month, despite previously selling 50 to 60 Kia cars monthly, according to Chen.
"They forced the dealers to take in so many unpopular cars so the carmakers could reach their sales targets for 2016."
The dealers' chamber reported more than 120,000 units of overstock among the dealers nationwide.
According to LMC's Zeng, overstock of Kia-branded cars are above the national average, despite car stocks climbing among almost every brand operating in China in December.
Dongfeng Yueda Kia registered 650,006 cars sold last year, 35,000 more than the sales volume of 615,000 vehicles in 2015.
The company toddled 5.5 percent growth year-on-year, while the Chinese auto market leaped 14.5 percent in 2016.
In 2015, the automaker's sales tumbled with a 4.6 percent drop, in contrast with the market's 4.5 percent growth overall.
Usually, the stock level requires automakers' dynamic management to allow dealers take less stock when sales are down.
However, Dongfeng Yueda Kia set its 2017 sales target at 700,000 vehicles, 7.7 percent more than the company's total sales last year.
Lang Xuehong, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told Chinese media that Dongfeng Yueda Kia's aggressive sales policy might result in yet more overstock this year.
Chen pointed out that many dealers are still striving to sell the overstock forced on them from 2016, when the automaker threatened to cancel their authorization.
"There's no way for us to achieve the annual sales target, much less earn a year-end bonus from the carmakers," Chen continued.
About 70 percent of the dealers lost money in 2016 and some dealers that are now struggling with financial troubles were once in excellent shape, according to the dealers' chamber report.
"We strongly request the management team to be replaced by those who better understand the Chinese market, with insights into industrial development, and stronger research and awareness of government policies," the dealers' chamber said in the letter.
Kia's South Korean sister brand, Hyundai Motor Group (China), also infuriated its Chinese dealers in 2016.
