Kia's 2025 CEO Investor Day
EV Sales Target Lowered, HEV Target Raised
Strong Commitment to PBV and Pickup Market Expansion
Kia has lowered its global sales target for 2030 to 4.19 million units, down 110,000 units from its previous goal. While the overall sales target has been reduced, the company has increased its total eco-friendly vehicle sales target by expanding its lineup of electric vehicles, hybrids, and purpose-built vehicles (PBV).
On the 9th, Kia held the '2025 CEO Investor Day' and presented detailed mid- to long-term goals to investors. At this event, Kia President Song Ho-sung shared the mid- to long-term growth strategy and set Kia's global sales target for 2030 at 4.19 million units with a market share goal of 4.5%.
To achieve this, Kia announced plans to invest 42 trillion KRW over five years from this year through 2029. This is an increase of 4 trillion KRW compared to the previous plan (2024?2028). The financial targets for this year include sales of 112.5 trillion KRW, operating profit of 12.4 trillion KRW, and an operating profit margin of 11.0%.
Kia President Song Ho-sung is explaining Kia's mid- to long-term business strategy and financial goals at the '2025 CEO Investor Day'. Photo by Kia
Active Expansion of Eco-Friendly HEV Lineup
The 2030 global sales target presented this time is 110,000 units lower than the 4.3 million units announced at last year's event. The overall sales target was reduced due to a more realistic target for the Chinese market, and the electric vehicle sales target was also lowered from 1.6 million units in 2030, as announced last year, to 1.259 million units in this announcement.
Instead, sales of eco-friendly vehicles, including hybrids (HEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV), have increased. The 2030 sales target for hybrid models (xHEV) is set at 1.074 million units, and the total eco-friendly vehicle sales target, including all electric vehicles and HEV models, is newly set at 2.333 million units.
Accordingly, the eco-friendly vehicle lineup will be actively expanded. By the end of this year, there are 23 internal combustion engine models including hybrids and 9 electric vehicle models. By 2030, the plan is to increase the electrification ratio with 17 internal combustion engine models and 15 electric vehicle models. Popular models such as Seltos and Telluride will have HEV versions added, expanding to 10 models, and HEV sales are expected to increase to 993,000 units by 2030.
To expand HEV sales, Kia also plans to expand powertrain production facilities through active investment. It is planning to supply more than 900,000 HEV powertrains by 2030.
EV Sales Target Reduced but Commitment to Leading EV Popularization Remains Strong
The electric vehicle sales target was realistically adjusted to reflect the global market's chasm (a temporary slowdown in demand before mass adoption). The targets are set at 324,000 units this year, 783,000 units in 2027, and 1.259 million units in 2030.
This is somewhat lower than the 1.147 million units in 2027 and 1.6 million units in 2030 presented at last year's Investor Day. Kia plans to lower the entry barriers for electric vehicle purchases by selling EV popularization models such as EV3, EV4, and EV5 globally, and will establish a full lineup with the launch of the compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) EV2 in 2026.
While developing next-generation batteries with cost competitiveness and product quality, Kia will secure price competitiveness through hardware optimization, application of next-generation electronic architecture, and advancement of vehicle software.
Kia also plans to expand charging infrastructure. In South Korea, the number of ultra-fast and rapid chargers currently installed at 2,326 units will be increased to more than 13,000 units by 2030. In North America, more than 50,000 ultra-fast chargers will be installed by 2030 through IONNA, and in Europe, more than 17,000 chargers will be built through a partnership with IONITY.
Song Hoseong, President of Kia, is explaining Kia's mid-to-long-term business strategy and financial goals at the '2025 CEO Investor Day.' Photo by Kia
Kia's Hidden Card, PBV
Since introducing the PBV lineup and business strategy at the 2022 Investor Day, Kia has established its business system and focused on building an ecosystem over the past two years.
Kia plans to enter the global commercial vehicle market through PBVs. It will sequentially launch the PV5 in July this year, the PV7 in 2027, and the PV9 in 2029 to complete the lineup. The sales targets for 2030 by model are 135,000 units for the PV5 and 115,000 units for the PV7 and PV9 combined.
PBVs are composed of three types: 'People Mover' tailored for passenger transport, 'Utility' optimized for work environments, and 'Delivery' specialized for logistics and delivery. Kia is currently collaborating with more than 100 global companies to develop solutions that meet various PBV needs.
To this end, Kia is building a dedicated PBV factory, the EVO plant, in Autoland Hwaseong, and is establishing a conversion center nearby to create an efficient manufacturing ecosystem. Overseas, Kia aims to supply locally specialized vehicles through conversion partnerships with local companies.
Securing 6% Market Share in Pickup Market with 'Tasman'
Kia also announced plans to secure a 6% market share in the newly entered pickup market (excluding North America). Starting this year in South Korea, it will launch the Tasman in emerging markets including Korea and Australia, aiming to sell an average of 80,000 units annually. For North America, the largest pickup market, Kia plans to launch a mid-size electrified pickup based on a new electric vehicle platform and aims for mid- to long-term annual sales of 90,000 units and a market share of 7%.
President Song said, "Kia will continue to strengthen its fundamentals and effectively respond to changes in the automotive market by executing mid- to long-term strategies, thereby sustaining the brand's development."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
