Kia Corporation have announced it will build on its strategic commitment to become a leader in sustainable mobility with the roadmap to 2030 at the company’s 2022 CEO Investor Day virtual event.
The roadmap builds on Kia’s successful ‘Plan S‘ strategy first announced in 2020 and reveals further details on how the company will achieve its vision to become a Sustainable Mobility Solutions Provider.
This corporate vision is supported by three key pillars; people, planet and profit. Under these pillars, Kia will strive to enhance customer value and nurture talents, reduce carbon emissions in consideration for the environment and generate profits while working as a responsible corporate citizen.
Kia also announced its four key business targets for 2030:
- Accelerate electrification and achieve annual sales of 1.2 million battery electric vehicle (BEV) units by 2030.
- Reaching four million annual vehicle sales by 2030, including over two million eco-friendly models.
- Expanding the application of connected car features and autonomous driving technologies to all new vehicles.
- Become the number one brand in the global purpose-built vehicle (PBV) market by 2030.
Ho Sung Song, Kia Corporation CEO and president, said: “Kia has been undergoing a full-scale transformation which has included changes in corporate vision, logo, product and design, and strategy.
“To achieve the company’s vision of becoming a Sustainable Mobility Solutions Provider, we will focus on accelerating the transition to future business models. We will become even more customer-centric in our approach and pursue a dynamic transformation while maintaining sound business operations.”
As part of this quantitative growth, Kia will expand sales of eco-friendly vehicles, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).
The company will make the sales of these vehicles the focus of future business growth. Kia will expand the proportion of eco-friendly cars from 17 percent of global sales in 2022 to 52 percent in 2030.
In major markets with strong environmental regulations and a growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs), including Korea, North America, Europe and China, Kia plans to increase its proportion of eco-friendly car sales by up to 78 percent by 2030.
The company plans to expand its battery electric vehicle product line-up over the coming years. Starting in 2023, Kia, who launched its EV6 last year, plans to launch at least two BEVs per year and build a full line-up of 14 BEVs by 2027.
Compared to its previous plan to release 11 models by 2026, Kia will add two electric pickup trucks, a dedicated electric pickup truck and a strategic model for emerging markets, and an entry-level BEV model. Kia plans to reaffirm its leadership in the electric vehicle market through its flagship electric vehicle the EV9, set for launch in 2023.
The EV9 is a large sports utility vehicle (SUV) that measures around five metres in length. Despite its size, it can accelerate from 0-62mph (0-100kph) in five seconds and offers a range of around 336 miles (540km). It can also provide 62 miles (100km) driving range in just six minutes.
A first for Kia, the EV9 will also feature OTA (Over the Air) and FoD (Feature on Demand) services that will allow customers to selectively purchase software functions. In addition, it will be the first model to be equipped with Kia’s advanced AutoMode autonomous driving technology.
Kia aims to increase sales of its battery electric vehicles. Starting with 160,000 BEV sales this year, Kia aims to sell 807,000 units in 2026 and 1.2 million in 2030. This is a 36 percent increase from the 2030 EV target announced during last year’s CEO Investor Day.
Kia projects that over 80 percent of its BEV sales in 2030 will come from Korea, North America, Europe and China, with BEVs taking a 45 percent share of total Kia sales in these major markets.
To accommodate this expanding volume of electric vehicles, the roles of individual production sites will evolve. Korea will serve as a global hub for research, development, production and supply of EVs, while other global production sites will produce strategic EVs for each market.
In Europe, for example, small and medium-sized EVs will be produced starting from 2025. In the United States, where mid-sized SUVs and pickups are popular, electric versions of these models will be produced locally from 2024.
In China, Kia plans to introduce mid-size electric vehicle models from next year, and India plans to produce entry and mid-size EV models from 2025.
Kia is planning to establish a battery supply and demand strategy and upgrade battery technology as demand is expected to increase significantly from 13GWh to 119GWh in 2030 because of increased electric vehicle sales.
Kia plans to supply batteries from the Indonesian battery cell joint venture and will simultaneously establish a stable battery supply and demand system by outsourcing to global battery companies.
In addition, the company plans to increase battery energy density by 50 percent by 2030 and reduce system costs by 40 percent, thereby enhancing both performance and price competitiveness.
