Kia has already committed Rs 2,000 crore to R&D, infrastructure development, and EV manufacturing in India. Kia will bring two new electric vehicles to India by 2025, both of which will be manufactured locally. However, there are no plans to localise the all-electric EV6; it will continue to be imported in full for the foreseeable future.
The first will be an entirely new mass-market MPV designed specifically for India and set to hit the market in 2025. The second vehicle will most likely be an electric version of Kia’s new compact SUV (internally known as the Kia AY), which will also be available in 2025. This unnamed SUV will be a sub-4m vehicle in Kia’s India lineup, sitting between the Seltos and the Sonet. Kia will position the AY as a lifestyle vehicle with a tougher SUV-like presence and a taller and boxier design to differentiate it from the Sonet.
The Kia AY will not be a pure EV, but will instead be available with both ICE and electric powertrains.
According to sources, Kia India plans to produce close to one lakh units of the AY SUV per year, with the petrol version accounting for 80% of total volume and the EV derivative accounting for the remaining 20%. When asked where the company plans to manufacture this new range of EVs, Park stated that the existing plant in Anantapur is already future proof to produce both EVs and IC engine models concurrently. In fact, a portion of the Rs 2,000 crore investment will go towards modifying the current production line to produce both ICE models and EVs concurrently.
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