Seoul, March 3, 2022 – At the 2022 CEO Investor Open Day, Kia officially unveiled its 2030 strategic plan to become a global leader in sustainable mobility.
Strategic Plan 2030 builds on the "Plan S" strategy released in 2020 and further elaborates on Kia's corporate vision for the transformation into a sustainable mobility solution provider. With the three core pillars of "People", "Earth" and "Profit" as the framework, the vision strives to reduce carbon emissions from the environment as the starting point, enhance customer value, cultivate talents, and fulfill corporate social responsibility while creating profits.
Kia also announced four core business goals for 2030, including: accelerating electrification, with annual sales of pure electric vehicles reaching 1.2 million in 2030; global automotive product sales reaching 4 million in 2030, of which more than 2 million are eco-friendly models; all new cars are equipped with intelligent interconnection systems and autonomous driving assist technology; and becoming the first brand in the global PBV (personalized customized model) market in 2030.
At the CEO Investor Open Day, Kia President and CEO Song Husheng said, "Kia is undergoing a comprehensive transformation that spans all aspects of corporate vision, identity, product and design, and strategy. In order to realize our vision of becoming a supplier of sustainable mobility solutions, we will focus on the transformation to a future-oriented business model. We will place greater emphasis on customer centricity and pursue a more dynamic transformation posture while maintaining sound business operations. ”
In the two years since the release of the "Plan S" strategy, Kia has grown into the world's leading electric vehicle (EV) brand, with record gross revenue and operating profit in 2021. Kia will make every effort to maintain this development trend, from 2022 onwards, while promoting quantitative and qualitative changes to create greater value.
Promote eco-friendly vehicles and achieve an annual sales target of 4 million vehicles
Starting from its global sales target of 3.15 million units in 2022, Kia is striving to continue to drive sales growth with the world's leading product quality. Kia aims to sell 4 million vehicles in 2030, up 27 percent from 2022.
To boost sales, Kia will accelerate its electrification footprint and increase sales of eco-friendly vehicles, including pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) and hybrid vehicles (HEVs).
Eco-friendly vehicles are the focus of Kia's future business growth. It is planned that the proportion of eco-friendly vehicles in Kia's total global sales will increase from 17% in 2022 to 52% in 2030.
In major markets such as South Korea, North America, Europe and China, kia plans to account for 78% of Kia's total sales by 2030 as environmental regulations become more stringent and demand for electric vehicles continues to grow.
By 2027, the lineup of pure electric vehicles will be expanded to 14 models
Kia is accelerating its electrification transition and further consolidating its position as a leading manufacturer in the field of electric vehicles. First, Kia plans to expand its lineup of pure electric products.
Kia plans to launch at least two pure electric models per year from 2023, and by 2027, Kia plans to expand the number of electric models to 14. Compared with Kia's previous proposal to launch 11 pure electric models in 2026, Kia has added 2 new electric pickups (1 is a dedicated electric pickup truck, and the other is a strategic model for emerging markets) and an entry-level pure electric vehicle.
Kia plans to consolidate its leading position in the field of electric vehicles with its flagship electric vehicle EV9, which will be launched in 2023. The EV9 is a large SUV with a body length of about 5 meters, but it takes only 5 seconds to accelerate from 100 kilometers, has a full power range of about 540 kilometers, and only needs 6 minutes to charge to travel 100 kilometers.
The EV9 will be the first Kia model to adopt OTA (online upgrade) and FoD (on-demand function), and customers can choose to purchase the software they need through the FoD function. In addition, the EV9 will be the first model to be equipped with Kia's advanced AutoMode autonomous driving assist technology.
By 2030, the company will achieve annual sales of 1.2 million pure electric vehicles
Kia plans to increase sales of pure electric vehicles through new models such as the EV9. Kia aims to sell 807,000 units by 2026 and 1.2 million by 2030, based on sales of 160,000 pure electric vehicles this year. That's a 36 percent increase from the 2030 pure electricity sales target released at last year's CEO Investor Open Day event.
Kia expects that by 2030, more than 80% of pure electric vehicle sales will come from South Korea, North America, Europe and China, and in these major markets, pure electric vehicles will account for 45% of Kia's total sales.
In order to match the increase in sales of electric vehicles, the role of Kia's major production bases will also be adjusted. South Korea will be the global center for Kia's electric vehicle R&D, production and supply, while other global production sites will mainly produce strategic electric vehicles for their own markets.
For example, the European production site will start producing small and medium-sized electric vehicles from 2025. Mid-size SUVs and pickups are the most popular in the U.S., so the local production site will produce electric versions of these models from 2024. In the Chinese market, Kia plans to launch mid-sized electric vehicles starting next year, and in India, it plans to start production of entry-level and mid-range electric models from 2025.
As electric vehicle sales increase, Kia also plans to promote battery supply and demand strategies and battery technology upgrades, and it is expected that battery demand will increase significantly from 13GWh to 119GWh by 2030.
Kia plans to supply batteries from a battery joint venture in Indonesia to establish a stable battery supply and demand system by cooperating with major battery manufacturers around the world.
In addition, Kia plans to increase battery energy density by 50% and reduce system costs by 40% by 2030, thereby improving performance and price competitiveness.
The product strategy focuses on smart connectivity and autonomous driving technologies
Kia emphasized four core businesses: smart connected services, autonomous driving assistive technology, performance, design, and said that the company will maximize the mobilization of resources to lay a leading position in the field of future mobility.
From 2025 onwards, all new Kia vehicles will be equipped with the leading intelligent interconnection system in the same class. As Kia's new cars continue to be equipped with OTA (online upgrade) and FoD (on-demand functions), users will be able to easily update the various functions and technologies of the vehicle to the latest version.
This is one of the results Kia has achieved as it pioneers new business opportunities such as more software and connected car services. Kia foresees that connected services will play an important role in a variety of mobility scenarios, such as car-sharing, ride-hailing and delivery services.
Kia's automode technology, AutoMode, will be rapidly popularized throughout the series starting with the EV9 launched in 2023.
Kia AutoMode technology supports over-the-air updates to optimize performance and continuous improvement as technology evolves. AutoMode will also include a highway driving pilot feature, under which vehicles will drive autonomously on highway sections without human intervention.
By 2026, all new vehicles launched in Kia's major markets will be equipped with AutoMode autonomous driving technology, and the uptime rate is expected to exceed 80%. In the long run, Kia plans to further upgrade AutoMode technology to achieve fully autonomous driving technology.
Kia also emphasized the differentiated design of the product and said that it will launch more high-performance models. Starting with the Kia EV6 GT, all of Kia's pure electric models will be available in high-performance versions.
Consolidate the global market leader in personalized vehicles (PBV).
Kia has always been customer-centric and committed to providing a variety of transportation services to meet the different needs of individual users and corporate users. At the heart of Kia's work in this area is the Personalized Vehicle (PBV).
Kia is one of the pioneers in the global field of personalized vehicles (PBVs) and seeks to be a leader in this market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has developed rapidly, and the demand for goods delivery and logistics services has also increased significantly. Providing customers with special vehicles according to their individual needs is the ultimate goal of personalized customized models (PBVs). To this end, Kia plans to establish a dedicated communication channel for personalized vehicle models (PBVs) in order to respond quickly and accurately to customer needs.
Kia also plans to establish a comprehensive data platform to provide customized services and solutions, such as vehicle charging, maintenance and management, according to the different business models of personalized customized vehicle (PBV) customers.
In the short term, Kia plans to develop personalized bespoke models (PBVs) based on existing models, such as the Niro Plus, which will be launched in the second half of this year. The Niro Plus is derived from Kia's eco-friendly Niro SUV and is expected to be used in taxi services and ride-hailing services.
In the medium to long term, Kia will develop personalized customized models (PBVs). Personalized bespoke models (PBVs) use a skateboard ev platform as a production platform for flexible architecture development, i.e. adjust the size and shape of the body according to the car's use and customer needs.
The market for personalized vehicles (PBVs) is expected to mature from 2025 onwards, and Kia plans to launch its first PVB product that year. The first Personalized Bespoke model (PBV) was similar in size to a mid-size car and was scalable.
Starting from the first personalized customized model (PBV), through the application of OTA functions and autonomous driving assistance technology, the ultra-long and durable performance of 600,000 kilometers is achieved, and the operating costs of enterprise users are greatly reduced.
As the personalized vehicle (PBV) market grows, Kia also plans to gradually expand its personalized bespoke model (PBV) product lineup, covering a wide range of products from micro to large personalized customized models (PBVs), exploring viable alternatives to public transportation, and even the possibility of part-time mobile offices.
Looking ahead to electric vehicle margins and growth prospects in new business areas, Kia has announced its 2026 financial targets
Kia also announced its medium- and long-term financial goals at the CEO Investor Open Day. The company has set a total revenue target of 120 trillion won for 2026, with an operating profit of 10 trillion won and a profit margin of 8.3%. In 2026, Kia's market capitalization will increase to 100 trillion won, which is twice as much as in 2021 (33 trillion won).
Kia plans to contribute 39% of Kia's operating profit to pure electric vehicles by 2026, while increasing sales will help develop new technologies and effectively reduce costs.
In addition, Kia expects the profit margin of all eco-friendly models to account for 52% of the total profit margin in 2026, surpassing that of fuel models.
To achieve its goals, Kia will not only increase sales of eco-friendly models, but also strive to significantly improve profitability and ensure more sales and profitability by commercializing new businesses and new technologies.
Over the next five years, Kia will invest a total of 28 trillion won to promote business operations (an increase of 5 trillion won over the original plan), of which 46% will be invested in future projects, an increase of 2 times from 19% in 2021.
Looking ahead, Kia will continue to work on environmental social governance (ESG). In 2020, Kia has developed a medium- to long-term plan for ESG and announced a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.
Kia will also actively participate in Hyundai Motor Group's next-generation research and development projects, such as advanced air mobility (AAM) and robotics. Kia also attaches great importance to achieving synergy between the Group's AAM R&D and Kia's Personalized Customized Vehicle (PBV) business.