Kia EV3 and EV4 to lower Korean brand’s EV entry price

Kia’s new breed of soon-to-arrive electric cars is about to get more affordable as the company looks to ramp up its share of EVs in an increasingly competitive segment of the Australian auto market.

Kia Australia is readying for the imminent arrival of the EV3 and EV4, each of which have currently only been shown in concept form but are expected to be showcased as production versions soon.

The Korean car-maker has confirmed both the EV3 compact electric SUV and EV4 mid-size fastback will be sold in Australia.

“We think EV3 and EV4 has an opportunity in our marketplace,” said Kia Australia product planning general manager Roland Rivero.

“We’ve got our hand up… and we think that there’s a great opportunity in our marketplace to sit below EV5.”

To put it in perspective, Kia has confirmed the mid-size EV5 will be priced from about $60,000 plus on-road costs.

So the expectation is that the EV3 could sell from closer to $50,000, popping it in the sweet spot to attack hard-charging small electric SUV rivals such as the BYD Atto 3 and upcoming Chery Omoda 5 EV.

The EV4 is harder to position because it’s a car designed to compete with the Tesla Model 3, which is priced from $61,900 plus on-road costs.

While both the EV3 and EV4 are initially to be sourced out of Korea, it’s likely that sourcing will switch to China, potentially allowing for a more value-focused approach.

Kia says the EV3, EV4 and EV5 will add significant volume to the brand’s electric car sales, which are running behind the market average of 7.2 per cent penetration.

At around 3.5 per cent of Kia sales in 2023, the Korean brand’s EV portfolio has plenty of room to improve – something local COO Dennis Piccoli says should happen in 2024.

“Effectively in the EV space it’ll double our volume,” he said of the EV5 alone.

“There’s some pretty strong movement in that EV space in the corporate and government… there’s a lot of scope in that space.

“By the end of the year we’ll probably be about eight or nine per cent EV content… bearing in mind it’s the back half of the year.”

Despite the imminent EV influx, Kia has ruled out the yet-to-be-revealed EV2 from being sold in Australia.

“As much as a product like EV2 would be great, it’s going to be too difficult for us and we won’t be taking that product,” said Rivero.

Set to be manufactured in Slovakia, the EV2 not only comes up against cost hurdles with shipping, but would also be slugged with a five per cent import tariff that’s not part of the free trade agreements Australia has with other EV-producing countries.

However, Rivero hinted there was a yet-to-be-announced electric car that may act as the eventual entry point to the Kia EV range.

“There could be other products in the pipeline that are being development globally that can still fulfill a similar role or an EV product that’s a smaller size,” he said.

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