Kia Motors, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, will launch at least two EV models a year until 2027, and in all, will have a 14-model lineup by then. The Korean carmaker, accelerating its ride on the EV pathway, said it will expand the portion of electric vehicles and hybrids in overall sales from the current 17% to 52% by 2030. Kia aims is to sell 4 million vehicles globally by 2030, with half of them being eco-friendly models.
New in the 2022 electric car plan is an entry-level electric vehicle aimed at emerging markets that's set to be built in India.
This roadmap builds on Kia’s successful ‘Plan S’ strategy first announced in 2020 to become a 'sustainable mobility solutions provider.' As part of this plan, Kia will invest close to $23 billion by 2026, according to its President and Chief Executive Song Ho-sung.
- Kia won't be making the Apple car, but it might make the Apple scooter
- Apple seems to have called off talks with Hyundai and Kia for the Apple Car
Kia to use its India plant for EV production
As you can see, Kia's EV journey involves India too. "It will produce localised EV models in its factories in Europe, the US, China and India, with its facilities and personnel in South Korea serving as a hub of EV development and production," Song said. In India, Kia plans to produce entry and mid-size EV models from 2025.
Kia, for the record, has no EV car in India as of now. But it is getting ready to foray into the EV segment here. The automaker has already trademarked the Kia EV6 nameplate, and recently filed five trademark applications for EV6 Light, EV6 Air, EV6 Earth and EV6 Water. The expectation is that the company might bring in the Kia EV6 electric crossover to India later this year.
Meanwhile, Kia is slated to launch its flagship model EV9 globally next year.
“Last year, we changed our mission, logo, product and design. Such efforts paid off as we saw good feedback from global brand evaluations,” Song said at this year’s CEO Investor Day held online today.
He added that Kia will start putting the Over the Air connectivity update function as a standard setting in all vehicles launched from 2025. From 2026, all Kia vehicles sold in global automotive markets will have an advanced autonomous driving function.
Kia is also planning to establish a battery supply and demand strategy and upgrade battery technology as demand is expected to increase significantly from 13GWh to 119GWh in 2030 due to increased EV sales.
Want to know about the latest happenings in tech? Follow TechRadar India on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
