The EV9 (File photo, courtesy of Kia)
Kia Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, is poised to sell 50,000 units of its flagship all-electric sport utility vehicle EV9 within a year of its launch on strong exports despite the sluggish demand for electric vehicles worldwide.
Kia sold 48,291 units of the EV9 in total at home and abroad by April since the affiliate of the country’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. introduced the model in June 2023, according to the company on Wednesday.
The accumulated sales volume is likely to top the 50,000 unit mark in May as the company sold some 2,000-3,000 units of its second EV model a month on average, industry sources said.
Its exports totaled 39,309 units, making up 81.4% of the total sales volume during the 11 months with overseas sales of 12,211 units in the January 2024-April period accounting for 92.9%. The company shipped 5,579 units of the EV9 in the first four months of this year to the US, the world’s No. 3 EV market where large SUVs are popular.
On the other hand, Kia sold only 970 units of EV9 in South Korea during the four months due to high prices of up to 100 million won ($73,282) and quality issues.
WELL RECEIVED IN OVERSEAS MARKETS
“The EV9 became an outstanding large electric SUV as it was well received in overseas markets, although its sales were sluggish at home due to relatively higher price tags,” said an industry source in Seoul.
The EV9 was in the spotlight thanks to the mileage of 501 kilometers (311 miles) with a battery of 99.8 kilowatt hour (kWh) on a single charge, the farthest among Kia EV models, stylish design and large interior space when it was unveiled.
Such features allowed the electric SUV to sweep major awards such as the 2024 World Car of the Year, helping Kia to deal with the globally slowing EV demand.
The South Korean automaker last week premiered the EV3, its low-cost electric SUV, to reboot the EV industry by attracting budget-conscious drivers with cheaper models.
The EV3 (File photo, courtesy of News1)
By Jae-Fu Kim
hu@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.
