The Kia 2021 CEO Investor Day has just ended and the company has announced its short term plans, including the launch of their first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) this year.
“Kia is being reborn in 2021 with a new logo, new design, and new corporate name,” said President and CEO of Kia Corporation, Ho Sung Song.
Under the updated ‘Plan S’ strategy, Kia Corporation will focus on three core pillars that are advancing EV transition, strengthening purpose-built vehicle (PBV) business and expanding future mobility services.
The first dedicated EV From Kia, codenamed CV, will be built on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) that is also shared with larger affiliate Hyundai Motor.
Song said the CV will be defined by three key figures of 5,4,3 – a useable range of 500 kilometres, a 100 km-range in just 4 minutes of charging and a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 3.0 seconds. Kia has also openly positioned the CV as a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y.
The CV is being promoted as the company’s flagship model and its due to be unveiled in March with sales to being in July.
Moving forward, the target is to have as many as seven EVs built on the E-GMP architecture, while another four on existing ones by 2026. By the end of this decade, the company aims to be the EV sales leader with 880,000 units per annum.
Kia is also developing a range of new Purpose-Built Vehicles (PBV) for corporate customers. These specialised vehicles will be based on flexible ‘skateboard’ platforms, with modular upper bodies designed to meet the specific mobility needs of a broad range of corporate and fleet customers.
Partnerships with the likes of Canoo and Arrival will mean Kia PBVs can offer different upper bodies mounted on top of an integrated modular ‘skateboard’ platform, tailored to users’ functional requirements.
As for mobility services, Kia plans to further enhance its operations in the vehicle subscription service, as well as expanding car-sharing service in Europe.
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