South Korean carmaker Kia has committed an investment of Rs 2,000 crore to drive research and development (R&D) as well as infrastructure development in India. However, it has also revealed that currently, it has no plans to localise its upcoming all-electric EV6 in the country.
Kia will bring two new locally manufactured electric vehicles (EVs) - an electric SUV and MPV - to Indian shores by 2025. The company will continue to import these vehicles as completely built units (CBU) in the future.
“In the year 2025, two electric models will be locally manufactured,” reported Autocar India while quoting Kia India’s Managing Director Tae Jin Park. However, Park still hasn’t disclosed any other details on the two upcoming EVs.
The first is likely to be an all-new MPV, which would be developed specifically for India, and is likely to be launched by 2025 in the domestic market.
Park also revealed that the company is particularly focused on the MPV segment and said “In India, RV
The company’s second locally manufactured EV, as per reports, is likely to be an electric compact SUV (internally known as the Kia AY), which is also expected to launch in India by 2025. According to the reports, this SUV is likely to be a sub-4 metre vehicle and will be placed between the Seltos and the Sonet in the company’s India line-up.
Moreover, Kia’s this new SUV will be offered with an internal combustion engine (ICE) too. As per the report, Kia India is aiming to produce around one lakh units of this SUV every year and hopes that around 80 percent of sales would be driven from the petrol version. The company also plans to export this SUV to overseas markets.
Park, while explaining the company's plans to produce this new range of EVs in India, said that the KIa’s Anantapur plant is already capable to manufacture both EVs and ICE cars. He also stated that a part of the Rs 2,000 crore investment will also be used to upgrade the current production line to produce both ICE cars and EVs at the same time.
Park said, “Our plant in Anantapur is very flexible; from day one we could produce electric vehicles there, so we will continue to rely on production optimisation to get more capacity out of the existing factory. If we need more capacity, we have some extra land at Anantapur, so that’s no problem to secure additional capacity from the existing set-up.”
Kia EV6
Kia EV6, which was unveiled in India in mid-2022, was the company’s first EV in India. However, unlike the upcoming electric SUV and MPV, which are aimed at the mass market, the EV6 is the company’s premium offering and will be offered as a full import unit. The Ioniq 5 comes with a 72.6kWh battery pack and is only offered in single-motor, RWD guise in India.
“We have very seriously analysed CKD and CBU (for EV6), and from a cost point of view, there is not a big difference. But when considering some suppliers’ issues regarding quality, we decided that CBU was the best for product quality. That is how we can provide the best quality vehicle, and have a good image as an EV brand to our customers. That is why we decided to bring the EV6 as CBU and not CKD, and for now, we are not considering CKD in the near future,” Park added.
