Kia UK boss: how brand became an EV game-changer

For Autocar Business webinars and podcasts, visit Autocar Business Insight

What has the move towards electrification done for Kia?

“Someone said to me that electrification is a real leveller for brands. When we were competing with only ICE powertrains, there were clear benefits for, let’s say, the German premium brands. With new tech, like electrification, I think people are reassessing who the leaders are. Tesla was number one last year, but the e-Niro was the second-best selling EV and Audi was number five. Electrification gives Kia a real opportunity to continue to make rapid progress.”

When do you think supply will come back to the industry as a whole?

“Right now we have the biggest order bank that we’ve ever had. If there were free supply, I think the industry would be booming. People have money to spend, having not spent as much as they would have done over the past two years [amid Covid]. “I think supply will start to improve in the second half of the year, but it won’t be until 2023 that the semiconductor issue will be resolved to any level of satisfaction. It will be about reducing lead times, rather than building up supply and stock levels.”

Will the upcoming EV6 GT become Kia’s halo car?

“Yes. In an increasingly electrified world, an EV with a GT version that accelerates from 0-62mph in 3.5sec is a real halo product. There’s still a role for the [V6 petrol] Kia Stinger in the short to medium term. We won’t be pushing [EV6 GT] volume: it’s far more a driver of brand perceptions and our EV capability.”

How will you push upmarket with EVs while maintaining sales of more affordable models like the Kia Picanto?

“The Kia brand is quite malleable. If you look back 15 years, we’ve always done well spanning a broad price range on our vehicles. Yes, we’ve moved the price range forward quite dramatically, but it’s about the reputation of the brand that makes well engineered, affordable cars. The Picanto is still an important player as a second car.”

There has been a lot of work on Kia’s branding over the past decade. Is there more to do?

“There is more work to be done, but I think electrification gives us a big opportunity. The brand snobbery which has existed for many years has potentially held Kia back in the past, but electrification and establishing ourselves as one of the leaders of it is going to drive Kia forward. We retain today’s benefits of design, engineering and reliability, but adding this dimension as a leader of electrification gives us further opportunity to make Kia a major brand.”

How many cars are you hoping to sell this year?

“It’s the first full year of the EV6 and we’re about to launch a new Sportage and then a new Niro. The combination of those three cars will represent about 60% of our sales. I think we’re capable of at least 5% growth, which will take us pretty close to the golden target [100,000] that we’ve wanted to achieve for a long time. But we’re not going to push it. We’re not about getting to numbers that fall away the next year because we’ve damaged residual values. It’s about sustainable growth.”

Infrastructure key to EV take-up, not incentives, says Philpott

When the government suddenly reduced its Plug-in Car Grant even further late last year, the automotive industry was frustrated by the surprise move, given that the UK has set itself the goal of being net zero by 2050. However, Kia UK boss Paul Philpott said: “None of our EVs currently qualify for the grant, and we’re not seeing demand decrease.

“I believe the grant has served its purpose, and while I think incentives are really important, infrastructure is more important than incentives for take-up of electrified vehicles. “The government must continue to invest in rapid implementation of charging infrastructure to give people confidence that their next car can be a plug-in car.”