Kia remains committed to an ambitious electric vehicle sales target but plans to maintain hybrids and plug-in hybrids as part of its product mix, the automaker announced on Friday in an investor presentation.
Kia still aims for 1.6 million global electric vehicle sales annually by 2030. That’s the same target the automaker achieved in 2023, up from a previous goal of 1.2 million. And it plans to introduce 15 new electric models worldwide by 2027. Its flexible PBV electric vans, designed to transition from delivery vehicles to taxis, could initially account for around 250,000 of these global sales.
Now Kia also says these electric vehicles will be part of the projected 2.4 million global sales of “electrified models” by the end of the decade, encompassing hybrids and plug-in hybrids alongside fully electric models. Kia anticipates these models will represent 58% of its annual global sales by 2030, which it claims will give it the highest percentage of electrified model sales of any (full-line) automaker at that time.
The sales increase will involve expanding the number of model lines for all types of propulsion systems. Kia plans to roll out the EV2, EV3, EV4, and EV5 models globally and increase its global hybrid lineup from six models in 2024 to eight in 2026, adding a ninth hybrid in 2028.
Kia’s Electric Vehicle Day, October 2023
Kia first showcased the EV5, a compact crossover, in August 2023, and a few months later, conceptual versions of the EV4 and EV5 emerged. Kia said at that time that the EV3 would target a base price between $30,000 and $35,000, but it has not yet revealed firm plans to bring any of these new models to the U.S.
In 2021, the company also added plans for a hydrogen fuel cell lineup by 2028 and to gradually phase out leather later in the decade, part of a broader sustainability vision. At that time, Kia announced its goal of achieving a fuel cell vehicle at a price comparable to a battery electric vehicle by 2030.
