Kia aims to sell 1.2 million electric vehicles globally in 2030 and is embarking on a ploy to significantly expand its electric vehicle lineup, usher in improved self-driving technology and introduce new digital revenue streams.
The targets build on those announced two years ago as part of the Korean brand’s “Plan S” electrification strategy and are broadly in line with the ambitions set out yesterday by sister brand Hyundai. Kia’s overarching goal is to become a “world leader in sustainable mobility”.
The brand has four main objectives for 2030: to sell 1.2 million battery electric vehicles, to sell four million vehicles in total, to deploy advanced connectivity and autonomous driving features on all models and to become the main supplier of vehicles “ specially designed” (i.e. produced on a large scale for a specific purpose) vehicles for third party fleet operators.
The first of these purpose-built vehicles (PBVs) will be derived from existing vehicles, including a larger Kia Niro Plus derivative that it will launch later this year. After this first wave, the company will introduce a new bespoke EV platform for PBVs in 2025, which will be fully scalable to suit different applications.
Kia’s overall sales target is up 27% from the 3.15 million sales forecast in 2022. So-called “green” vehicles – by which Kia refers to EVs, PHEVs and full hybrids – will support this growth, rising from a 17% share of sales to around 52% in 2030. In 2022, it expects to sell 160,000 pure electric vehicles, increasing to 807,000 in 2026 and 1.2 million four years later, i.e. an increase of 36% compared to the previously envisaged 2030 objective.
In markets where demand for these vehicles is particularly strong (she cites Korea, North America, Europe and China), it aims for electrified vehicles to represent 78% of its global volume.
The brand’s pure-electric range will have 14 models by 2027, among which it will include two pickup trucks and an entry-level BEV, presumably positioned as the zero-emissions successor to today’s Kia Picanto city car.
Notably, the brand confirmed that it plans for all future bespoke EVs to follow the Kia EV6 in getting a GT-badged performance top end. It promises these hot EVs will have “differentiated” designs from their standard counterparts.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-03 10:30:39
