A Kia electric pickup has been confirmed as a global model. But it would need to be a premium sedan – not focused entirely on value and affordability – to make sense in the US, a Kia US executive suggested. Green car report at the New York auto show last week.
Kia promises to deliver the EV9 SUV to the US market starting in the second half of 2023 – with an exact date yet to be confirmed. Kia also hasn’t made any confirmation on its plans to assemble the EV9 or any other electric vehicle in the US, but Kia America’s vice president of marketing Russell Wager said the company is “certainly investigating.” that.
Kia proposes the pickup will use the same E-GMP platform that underpins the EV9, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Genesis GV60, and many other specialized electric vehicles of these brands, share some development resources. Kia has also confirmed that the production EV9 will offer three rows of seats and a range of up to 300 km.
Kia Concept EV9
Under Kia’s Plan S, it intends (globally) to sell 500,000 EVs annually by 2025 and four million EVs annually by the end of the decade. That includes the introduction of 11 EVs by 2026, plus an ambitious sustainability roadmap.
The company has yet to analyze exactly what Plan S means for the US, in terms of numbers. But as Wager points out, Kia is currently the second-largest seller of EVs in the US (behind Tesla), even though the EV6 only hit the market on February 1. That’s not a fluke. he argued. Unlike Hyundai, Kia has allocated that model in the US to keep up with the pace and it has support its dealers to sell electric vehicles at most of its stores in all 50 states.
Kia’s three distinct EV models, the EV9, EV6 and Niro EV, represent a greater EV commitment than most other full-line brands.
“We are evaluating the place and what could happen here,” explained Wager when further emphasized on the site. Kia electric truckstop endorsing it for the US
Kia EV . teaser
“We love that; Our agency would love that,” he added. “But at the same time we wanted to make sure it was right.”
What would be “right” for a Kia electric truck imported in the United States? Wager insists it will not be in the low-cost, high-value segment like Ford’s Maverick Hybrid pickup.
“The Kia is no longer ‘America’s Best Value,'” Wager said.
“That’s not what the brand is about anymore,” he explains. “So if we’re going to bring any kind of truck into the lineup, it needs to fit in with what we’re doing right now, which is a bit more advanced in design, in the interior and technology and services. It will not be — part of our portfolio — a premium vehicle for the brand. ”
That doesn’t bode well for the entry-level Kia EV growing globally.
Kia EV . teaser
Wager added that with the electric truck, Kia is keeping a close eye on what the competition is doing and suggests there’s a bit of a wait.
“Everybody says the need is there; We’ll see how the sales go,” he said.
Does that apply to traditional looking models like F-150 Lightning or Chevy Silverado EVbrand new clauses like Rivian R1T, or completely different Tesla Cybertruck? We will joint all of the above.
