Kia To Launch Mainstream EV SUV By 2025 From India
Opportunity India Desk
Apr 19, 2022 -
7 min read
Kia Corporation is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Kia Corporation is commonly known as Kia formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation. It is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer after its parent company Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 2.8 million vehicles in 2019.
Based on a flexible platform Kia’s proposed SUV will be launched in the market as an entry level petrol SUV besides the EV6. The development work has been accelerating, and Kia aims to enter the emerging India’s EV market space this year. With its EV6 success globally the Seltos and Sonet car maker have broken into the top five carmakers of India in only three years time. The development work for a small SUV code named AY has kicked off and it is expected to hit the roads in 2025. This means Kia will seed the global EV market with assembled premium products from India.
Kia will use the next few years to build the requisite infrastructure, and then launch a mainstream EV by 2025. This would ensure that Kia caters to both ends of the market. It is around the same time India’s top carmakers Maruti Suzuki and Toyota also plan to enter the cleaner vehicle space.
At present India’s EV market is dominated by Tata Motors, a homegrown player which has 90% of the market share. No doubt it is all timing, with the aggressive and cut throat competition already set, by the time Kia enters India’s mainstream electric vehicle space, there will be dozens of EV models launched by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.
Last month Ho Sung Song, CEO & President, Kia shared the company’s EV roadmap, wherein it has targeted annual sales of 4 million vehicles by 2030 with 50% of it coming from electrified power train and pure electric vehicles accounting for 30%. Globally, it plans to launch 14 electric vehicles till 2030. This year, the company has approved an A+ segment EV or entry SUV EV for emerging markets from India, an EV pick-up truck, and another model for the developed markets.
India was amongst the fastest growing markets for Kia in 2021 and the local base is expected to continue to outpace the global growth, accounting for almost 10% of Kia’s global production and almost 8% of its total revenues.
Of the total production of 300,000-350,000 units planned for 2022 from India, the company will be exporting about 80,000 units, as per its global presentation. Kia currently exports to more than 90 countries. With the addition of Carens MPV, India is set to be a much bigger global hub. With India’s business being profitable in the last three years, it’s a landmark achievement which has not been achieved by the other players despite having a bigger market share. This has proved with strategy right in the EV space; car makers can make profits in India. Kia India turned profitable within only two years of starting sales, and delivered a profit tax of INR 1,111 crore in FY21. With increased volumes in both domestic and exports markets, the profit is set to increase.
Interestingly, Kia India has not only been quickest in terms of volume growth, but also in terms of revenue and profitability. Despite it being a Covid-hit year, Kia’s total turnover grew 87% to Rs 20,290 crore in FY21. This is equivalent to 10% of the total estimated passenger car industry revenue last year. The firm’s volume sales grew 90% year on year to 196,000 units in FY21.
EV6, Kia's First Dedicated Electric Vehicle
Kia has had a successful run in the EV space in the global market with EV6. As Kia’s first dedicated EV, the Kia EV6 was named the 2022 Car of the Year in the European Car of the Year (COTY) awards. With its commendable and unbeatable features such as long distance up to 528 km maximum range (WLTP), ultra-fast charging, less than 4.5 min for 100 km, high performance 3.5 sec* 0 → 100 km/h acceleration. EV6 is Kia's first dedicated EV built on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP)
First applied to the EV6, Kia’s new electric-global modular platform (E-GMP) allows for a flat floor which enables diverse interior layouts. Despite the EV6’s compact exterior dimensions, its 2.9m wheelbase results in a cabin space similar to many mid to large SUVs. That means more interior room for you and your passengers to enjoy.
The seats are made from recycled PETs, high quality vegan leather or suede, with the overall interior consisting of recycled materials.
The EV6’s integrated dual curved displays are not only beautiful but offer a truly immersive experience. Their wide high definition design provides clear, unobstructed visibility, while providing intuitive menus and visuals. It has 12.3” cluster + 12.3” AVN.
The new AR head-up display introduces a virtual display on the windshield to guide you to your destination. It provides all the key information for hassle free and safe trips.
Ultra Fast Charging
The 800V high-speed multi charging system of the EV6 enables you to find that extra time for things that really matter to you. A quick charge for less than 4.5 minutes would give you 100km of driving range. It takes less than 18 minutes to charge from 10 to 80%.
528km Driving Range
EV6's 77.4kWh battery can enable up to 528km driving when fully charged. This means less frequent charges and, again, more time to discover your passions. Also available with a 58kWh battery, enough to cover all driving needs. However we need to know that range is based on WLTP
Convenient power supply for your activities
The EV6 is equipped with vehicle-to-load (V2L) function that works as a convenient, portable electricity supply for your daily life or leisure activities. It can serve as an emergency power source for your home. In fact, EV6 supplies up to 3.6kW of electricity and it can also work as a portable generator when enjoying outdoor activities.
Together with its impressive maximum towing capacity of 1,600 kg, you can bring everything you need on an outdoor adventure with your friends and family and do it all with no emissions of course. However towing capacity may vary depending on the battery size and/or the drive train selected.
The Kia and the Hyundai Connection
As of December 2015, the Kia Corporation is minority owned by Hyundai, which holds a 33.88% stake valued at just over USD $6 billion. Kia in turn is a minority owner of more than twenty Hyundai subsidiaries ranging from 4.9% up to 45.37%, totaling more than USD $8.3 billion.
Though Hyundai and Kia share many similarities and lineups such as both are South Korean based and offer similar lineups such as vehicle share platforms, power trains, or other parts and engineering. However both brands maintain their own design studios, engineering staff, sales, and marketing departments with similar deliverables such as both brands produce high quality vehicles with great warranties that are loved by their owners.
Kia is a public limited company, founded on June 9, 1944 in Seoul; it is a 77 year old company. It currently serves worldwide except Japan and North Korea. Chung Eui-sun is the Chairman, Song Ho-Sung is the President & CEO and Karim Habib is the Chief Design Officer. As of 2019 Kia’s production output was 2.821 million units. The number’s of Kia Corporation is an impressive one, let’s look at its 2016 numbers: its revenue was KRW 52.713 trillion, operating income KRW 3.442 trillion, net income KRW 2.655 trillion and total assets of KRW 50.889 trillion with a total equity of KRW 26.759 trillion. As of 31 December 2019 its total number of employees was 52,488.
Kia America, Kia Central & South America, Kia Europe, Kia Mexico, Kia Motors Chenab, Kia Lucky Motors Pakistan and Kia Defense are its subsidiaries. Its March 2022 sales analysis of Sonet, seltos, carens, carnival Kia posed 22622 unit sales in March 2022 as against 19100 units during the same period in 2021 with a YoY sales increase of 18.4 percent.
