In the coming years, to compensate for the slow global diffusion of 100% electric cars, Kia will add another 9 hybrid models based on new generation Ice engines. Ho Sung Song, president and CEO of the South Korean company, stated this during a conference with investors.
"Following the successful relaunch of the brand in 2021 - said Ho Sung Song, confirming the goal of 1.6 million electric cars per year by 2030 - Kia is strengthening its global strategy to promote the creation of an innovative range of electric vehicles and thus accelerate the company's transition to becoming a provider of sustainable mobility solutions."
But to guarantee "competitiveness in terms of costs and production flexibility" - underlined the president of Kia - in the face of a market for electric models that "is slowing down due to the economic recession, cuts in subsidies and the lack of charging infrastructure ", the company is committed to developing a new generation of hybrid powertrains with "greater power and fuel efficiency."
A strategy that aims to "diversify" Kia's product offering, through two versions of this new engine. One for "subcompact and midsize" cars and another for large models. Kia, it was specified, will build the new hybrid powertrains alongside existing combustion engines.
Also to cope with the expected increase in sales of cars with electrified Ice engines, Kia will launch nine new hybrids by 2028 which will be used - said Ho Sung Song - "in most major model lines globally", but without specify which cars will be affected.
In light of this new strategy, Kia expects hybrids to make up 20% of its global sales in 2030, up from 14% previously estimated at the start of 2024. The percentage of sales of electric models - Autocar highlights in reporting the news - will however increase from 10% to 38% in the same period.
Overall, Kia estimates that electrified vehicles will account for 58% - or approximately 2.48 million units - of Kia's global sales by 2030, with significant variations across regions. If in the United States and Canada the forecast is for 35% of sales in 2030 to be made up of hybrid models, in the European Union this figure will be 12%.
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