Kia EV6 GT still coming this year

The supercar-slaying new 2023 Kia EV6 GT is still on target to arrive in Australia by the end of this year and plenty of local customers have already put down deposits – despite being told to expect a price tag of around $100,000, which will make it the most expensive Kia ever sold Down Under.

Kia Australia launched three versions of the award-winning 2022 Kia EV6 electric crossover in February – the Air RWD ($67,990 plus on-road costs), GT-Line RWD ($74,990) and GT-Line AWD ($82,990) – at which point it had landed about 140 vehicles and expected to secure 500 in total this year.

Kia now says it may secure an extra 100 in 2022 and is hoping for a bigger allocation in 2023, but with over 25,000 expressions of interest and 1500 firm orders before launch, the EV6 is now sold out until at least 2024 and Kia Australia says it could have sold 3000 examples of the ground-breaking EV this year – six times its original business plan.

“Maybe we’ll get 600 this year rather than the 500 allocated. It’s a 20 per cent increase, so it’s better than nothing,” said Kia Motors Australia COO Damien Meredith told carsales.

The Korean car-maker’s local general manager of product planning, Roland Rivero, said the range-topping Kia EV6 GT – which packs a 430kW/740Nm dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain, 0-100km/h acceleration in 3.5 seconds, a 260km/h top speed and a 410km range – should still make it here in late 2022.

“There are already deposits for the GT variant, without price details. Dealers are telling people around the $100,000 mark,” he told carsales.

“We’ve always said quarter four the best case for deliveries. We’re confident they will be built this year; September is the current plan.”

Rivero said Australia’s Kia EV6 GT is now undergoing final testing in Europe and a homologation vehicle will be subjected to final suspension tuning this month, in line with the Korean brand’s commitment to ensure the chassis of every new model it releases suits Australian conditions.

“We’ve already started tuning it, in Germany. We did 60 to 70 per cent in Germany, but still want to tidy it up here. We want to do it in the next couple of weeks with the SUTI [Single Unit Type Inspection] vehicle,” he said.

“We’ve done the hydraulic tuning of the suspension and we’ve done the steering. But we will still need to do the electronic suspension control map. It’s only software now. All the hard parts are locked in.”

The Kia EV6 is the first Kia to be based on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP electric car platform and the first of 14 new EVs it will release globally by 2027, four of which will be derived from existing models like the new Kia Niro small SUV.

The new Kia Niro will be launched here next month – again with the option of an EV powertrain – but Kia Australia has said it hopes to release at least two all-new EVs locally in 2023.

The all-new Kia EV9 large electric SUV, which will be launched globally in 2023, is expected to be one of them and the other could be a sub-$40K compact electric SUV potentially based on the newly revealed Kia Sonet, which would give Kia Australia a three-member electric SUV family.

“Concept cars have been previewed and shown globally, and usually then it’s close to production,” said Rivero.

“[But] EV9 is still on the wish list. When it’s officially confirmed by global then we’ll make an announcement.”

Further afield, Kia has also promised not one but two electric pick-up models, probably including an EV version of Kia’s long-awaited answer to the Toyota HiLux – a global mid-size one-tonne ute.

“An EV ute is on the drawing board. It is going to happen,” confirmed Rivero. “[But] We haven’t seen anything in regard to commercial van-type EVs for Australia.”

Nor will there be a big, rugged off-road Kia SUV to rival the Toyota LandCruiser, as previously expected, based on the same body-on-frame ladder platform as the ute – at least not in the medium term.

“At this point in time it’s on the back-burner. The maths was done and globally there is still more volume in a ute than an SUV, from a ladder-frame perspective,” said Rivero.

“In the shorter term it’s going to have a tray, not an SUV back. Globally. But who is to say that landscape won’t change in the more distant future?”

And while there won’t be a plug-in hybrid version of the new Kia Niro to go with its HEV and EV powertrains this time round, Kia now has HEV and PHEV versions of its Sorento large SUV and looks set to add hybrid – but perhaps not plug-in hybrid – power to its new Sportage mid-size SUV, giving it a direct rival to Australia’s top-selling SUV and hybrid model, the Toyota RAV4.

“We are waiting on a green light, but it’s looking very positive for a Sportage hybrid,” said Rivero. “If all goes well, we’ll have an announcement relatively soon.”

As Kia develops its electrification roadmap it says the change of federal government could be good for car brands.

“I would hope that it will be better for the industry. What we've missed out on is a consistent national strategy for EVs,” said Meredith.

“We’ve had state governments going off and doing their own things. I’m hoping the Albanese government will give a stronger direction for EVs.

“What can happen now is manufacturers can go back to their headquarters and say they have a policy. I’m happy with that. At least there is a direction.”

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