Electric Kia ute and every other EV on track for Australia

While other countries pick and choose models from Kia’s 14-model electric vehicle rollout planned by 2027, the Australian division has a simpler scheme.

Encouraged by the new Labor federal government’s desire for EVs to account for 50 per cent of new vehicle sales by 2030, Kia wants the lot.

“We would like to take all of them, why not?” Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith told carsales.

“If by 2030 there is half-a-million EV sales as the federal government wants, then I think we have to get that product into the country as quickly as possible to build to that number.

“We are more than willing to take everything we possibly can to build that EV stream going forward.

“It’s going to be good for the brand.”

The 14 models include the existing Kia EV6 and Niro that are already sold in Australia, the EV9 seven-seat EV that has been previewed in concept form, a sub-compact entry-level model, a Kia equivalent of the Hyundai IONIQ 6 sedan and, not least of all, two electric utes.

An earlier plan had called for 11 Kia EVs by 2026.

At least two new EV models are expected to roll out globally each year and hopefully into Australia.

In the US, the plan is more cautious, forecasting eight EVs in the line-up by 2029.

“It [the Kia EV range] could all work here,” insisted Meredith.

“I think it’s a brave new world. You are not going to get that traditional segmentation and EV6 is a great example of that.

“It falls into that SUV category but it’s probably multi-functional in many ways. People who like sedans wouldn’t be scared of it, people who like wagons wouldn’t be scared of it, people who like bigger SUVs wouldn’t be scared of it.

“I think the whole design parameters will, have and are going to further change as we go along this EV road.”

In Australia, the 430kW Kia EV6 GT will be the next model to arrive around the end of 2022 and will be the 2023 feature car at the Australian Open tennis tournament, which Kia sponsors.

It will also be the most expensive Kia ever sold in Australia, officially priced over $100,000.

Both the EV9 and the sub-compact are 2023 chances but could also blow out into 2024 given the fragility and unpredictability of production supply lines.

“It’s incredibly dynamic and volatile at the moment,” said Meredith. “We are no different to any other manufacturer; we don’t know what’s arriving until the death knock of the whole production process.

“Two years ago we knew 90 days beforehand what was coming. Now it’s likely to be 90 minutes. That’s the reality of what’s happening in the world at the moment.

“Our product planning schedule is changing rapidly.”

Meredith made it clear the EV commitment did not preclude ongoing sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines.

For instance, Kia Australia is hoping the 2026 Toyota HiLux-sized electric ute for emerging markets will be joined by a diesel-powered version as well.

“We’d be pushing other people out of the way to be first in line,” Meredith said.

And despite a substantial year-on-year decline in sales for the Kia Picanto, Rio and Cerato in 2022, all three small passenger cars remain locked into the line-up.

“We will continue with those vehicles. We are still doing on average around 2000 [sales] a month of those three combined. They form an important part of our ongoing strategy,” said Meredith.

“We are more than happy to keep those three going.”

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