The Sportage-sized Kia EV5 electric family SUV is wanted for local showrooms. But a cheaper $45,000 to $50,000 electric car to rival China’s BYD or MG is still years away.
South Korean car-maker Kia has expressed interest in the 2024 Kia EV5 electric SUV – an SUV similar in size to the Kia Sportage and due to go on sale in China later this year – for Australian showrooms.
Although the EV5 – shown as a concept in March this year – is due to launch in China first, Kia has hinted at a global expansion for what would be an entrant into Australia’s most popular new-vehicle market segment.
“We’ve never kept it a secret that just about every product that’s been part of this Plan S strategy, we want to put our hand up for,” Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told Australian media.
“It’s still unconfirmed but we would love to bring an EV5 to the Australian market if we get the chance.”
Compared to the Kia EV6 (4.7m long) in showrooms today, the EV5 (4.5 to 4.6m-long estimated) is shorter from bumper to bumper, but taller with a boxier design for a roomier, more conventional look.
It is expected to be priced similarly to Kia’s current electric vehicles – the $72,590 to $99,590 EV6 and smaller $65,000 Niro EV – as well as mid-size electric SUV rivals, which are priced from approximately $65,000 to $80,000 (all plus on-road costs).
Buyers looking for a more affordable Kia electric SUV – in the $45,000 to $55,000 price range currently occupied by Chinese brands BYD and MG – will need to wait a while longer.
Kia executives told media the company will not compete in the “affordable” sub-$50,000 electric-vehicle (EV) market until it introduces smaller models – and stock shortages ease.
“I don’t know if we want to be in that [sub-$50,000 electric vehicle] space. At least what our EV products represent is the upper end of our range, the brand enhancer or the halo of our range,” Mr Rivero told media.
“It’s having that effect of lifting not only the desirability of the Kia brand, but the desirability of just about every other product in the Kia range … at the moment [EVs are] more so the aspirational product, or the inspirational product.
“Maybe down the track as that [electric-car] range gets bigger and bigger, and we get better supply we can look at something along those lines, a more affordable one,” the executive said.
“But to say that it’ll be an MG equivalent … at this point, I’m not looking at it.
Kia has confirmed plans for smaller electric vehicles – from the size of the pint-sized Picanto city hatch, to the Seltos small SUV – to be built at factories in Europe, China and India in the next four years.
However, details of which models are due then – and all will be able to meet Australian safety standards – are unclear.
As reported by Drive last week, overseas reports claim a small Kia Cerato-sized hatchback is among the new electric cars, due in 2025 with a focus on European markets.
Reportedly due in European showrooms at a similar time are two small SUVs, one with the footprint of a Picanto, and the other the size of a Seltos. These models may be manufactured in India.
Globally, Kia has announced plans to offer 15 electric vehicles by 2027 – and sell 1.6 million battery-powered cars annually by the end of the decade, accounting for 37 per cent of its global sales.
“If we want to get to the kind of numbers of [electric vehicle sales] that globally we’re talking about, we’re going to have to [introduce cheaper models]. [But not] in this very short term with the [constrained] supply situation,” Mr Rivero told media.
The post Kia EV5 electric SUV on wish list for Australia, but sub-$50,000 model years away appeared first on Drive.
