When it comes to Kia, perhaps not many people would think that this is actually a long-established automaker that dates back to 1944. As an important part of the Hyundai-Kia Group, the world's third-largest automotive group, the global automaker with 80 years of experience in car manufacturing will sell more than 3 million vehicles globally in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%, achieving multi-market development. Kia has set new sales records in many markets around the world.
In the Chinese market, Kia has also been deeply involved for 22 years. In the past 22 years, Kia, as one of the participants in China's automotive industry, has witnessed and personally promoted the rise and transformation of China's automotive industry. In the face of the wave of new energy transformation in full swing in China, this car company, which has a deep connection with China, is also accelerating its own transformation for the new era of mobility with the same pioneering spirit, the concept of responsibility first, and the strategy of long-termism.
After 22 years of deep cultivation, Kia is firmly committed to "in China, for China"
As the world's largest single auto market, China is an inseparable "position" for any car company.
According to the data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2023, the production and sales of China's automobile market will exceed 30 million units, reaching 30.161 million units and 30.094 million units, respectively, an increase of 11.6% and 12% year-on-year, respectively, and the annual production and sales volume will both hit a record high. In the field of new energy vehicles, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China will also reach 9.587 million and 9.495 million units in 2023, an increase of 35.8% and 37.9% year-on-year, respectively, with a market share of 31.6%.
There is no doubt that China's automobile has become one of the "highlands" of the development of new energy vehicles, and how to grasp the east wind of China's new energy vehicle market and organically combine it with it will become the key to occupy the opportunity in the competition in the new era of automobiles. As Kia, which has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for 22 years, its importance is also self-evident.
In fact, in the past two years, Kia's global CEO Song Husheng has come to China many times to research the market, and emphasized that "the continuous innovation and development of the Chinese auto market to ensure the success of the Chinese market is the core of Kia's global strategy", it is not difficult to see Kia's attitude of continuing to cultivate the Chinese market and practicing the "in China, for China" strategy.
According to the data, in 2023, Yueda Kia will sell a total of 166,395 units at home and abroad, a year-on-year increase of 31.2%, showing a steady and positive growth trend, of which the cumulative export sales of 86,062 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 125%, ranking in the forefront of joint venture brands. In the first quarter of 2024, Kia got off to a good start, with cumulative sales of 50,038 units, up 76.9% year-on-year. Domestic sales totaled 19,654 units, up 10.3% y/y, and export sales totaled 30,384 units, up 190.5% y/y.
By actively promoting overseas export business, Kia's Yancheng plant has become a global export base and part of Kia's global strategic layout. At the same time, this is also an important measure for Yueda Kia to actively integrate into the dual cycle, which not only further improves production capacity, but also builds a new development situation of "domestic sales and export sales go hand in hand".
For the vigorous development of China's new energy vehicle market, Kia has also expressed considerable attention. Kia China announced that it will launch a variety of pure electric vehicles in the future, and by 2030, it aims to achieve annual sales of 180,000 EV models, with EVs accounting for 40% of sales. In the future, Kia will continue to be guided by the Chinese market and provide products with more potential and competitiveness based on Chinese consumer demand.
From the market level, in the 22 years since entering China, Kia has accumulated more than 6.2 million user assets in China, with a revenue of more than 620 billion yuan and a tax payment of about 52 billion yuan, making outstanding contributions to the development of Yancheng's economy and automobile industry. But in fact, Kia's leading role in China for 22 years is not only at the market level, not only in the automotive industry, and even not only in the high-quality development of the regional economy. If we take a long-term view, we can find that this global car company "in China, for China" has always adhered to the "responsibility first" in China, and has continuously practiced corporate social responsibility with its own efforts, contributing to the sustainable development of China's auto market from Kia.
"Responsibility first", Kia practices social responsibility
"If you are poor, you will be good to yourself, and if you are good, you will help the world", this is the evaluation of "true gentleman" in traditional Chinese business society, and it is also the expectation of most Chinese for a responsible enterprise. And Kia is precisely such a "true gentleman" who adheres to the concept of high social responsibility. Whether it is the "Kia Home" public welfare project that began in 2009, or the green production concept established from the beginning of the opening of Yueda Kia's Yancheng production base, it can be said that Yueda Kia has been practicing its own sustainable development path with practical actions since entering China.
At the level of public welfare, as early as the "wild era" when domestic enterprises generally focused on the market and ignored social responsibility, Kia actively engaged in the field of public welfare, launched a "second business" outside the automobile industry, and continued to innovate and extend the forms and fields of public welfare participation.
By focusing on how to get more people involved in public welfare and turning public welfare into a part of life, Kia's public welfare projects have passed the era of "Teaching People to Fish" 1.0 and "Teaching People to Fish" 2.0, and entered the era of innovative public welfare 3.0, achieving diversified public welfare innovation effects that are accurate and tailored to local conditions. At present, Kia has built and participated in public welfare projects that have covered environmental protection, education, society and other fields, and built a public welfare system including Kia Home, Hope Primary School, school-enterprise cooperation and other projects, with a cumulative investment of more than 110 million yuan.
Taking "Kia Home" as an example, since the launch of the project in 2009, Kia has always paid attention to the housing assistance activities of rural groups in need, and has successively carried out activities in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and other provinces, helping to build more than 166 houses, with a cumulative investment of more than 56 million yuan. It has been selected as one of the "Top 50 Public Welfare Projects in China" by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for many consecutive years, and was awarded the "Most Influential Charity Project" by the Jiangsu Provincial Government in 2018.
For Kia, organizing public welfare activities is not only a feeling, but also a mission given by the times, on this road, Kia has walked out of its own path, so that more and more people begin to feel the warmth from Kia from different levels. In fact, innovation and philanthropy represent only one part of Yueda Kia's path to sustainable development, and in the new era of emphasizing the concept of ESG (that is, the abbreviation of Environmental, Social and Governance), Kia's efforts can be said to cover all aspects.
For example, in terms of protecting the rights and interests of employees, Kia has always adhered to the concept of people-oriented and always attached importance to protecting the reasonable rights and interests of employees. In 2022 alone, Yueda Kia will invest nearly 960,000 yuan in employee training, nearly 75,000 people trained, 20,000 people in safety and health training, 26 million yuan in safety measures, 24.71 million yuan in safety production, 2,894 employee care activities, and a total of 61,000 participants.
Valuing people is one of the key points in the ESG era of sustainable development. And this insistence on sustainable development and "responsibility" has also been recognized by the industry. In 2023, Yueda Kia ranked fourth in the automotive industry and first among joint venture car companies in the 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Development Index released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and won the "Social Responsibility Benniu Award - Responsible Management Award". At the 2023 China Automotive Sustainability Conference, Yueda Kia was successfully selected as one of the top ten ESG brands in China's auto industry in 2023, the top 20 ESG pioneer index in the ESG pioneer index, and ranked second among joint venture car companies with its excellent ESG performance.
Over the past 22 years, Kia has always adhered to the concept and principle of "responsibility first" in China, and has always been practicing corporate social responsibility, contributing to the construction of a harmonious and beautiful social environment and the sustainable development of China's auto market. Kia, which has such ideals, innovations and responsibilities, is constantly creating a new future of mobility and creating a new era of mobility that is unique for all consumers.
The key is to achieve strong acceleration in the transformation of intelligence and electrification through multiple strategies.
With multiple strategies, Kia's intelligent electric transformation has accelerated strongly
In the face of the strong development of the world, especially China's new energy market, Kia has not relaxed its pursuit of new technologies, new energy and the new four modernizations of automobiles, although compared with the vigorous development of China's new energy market, the previous Kia's actions in China were slightly slower. However, as a long-term global car company, Kia is taking multiple measures to realize its new energy vehicle strategy step by step, and carry out all-round upgrades in all aspects.
In the face of the explosive growth of China's new energy vehicle market, Kia has keenly captured the market vane, released China's new energy strategy, opened the first year of electrification, and launched two blockbuster pure electric new cars, EV6 and EV5. Among them, as the first electric model under Kia China's electrification transformation strategy, the Kia EV6 has been launched at the 2023 Chengdu Motor Show. The EV6 is the first electric model built on Kia's dedicated E-GMP platform for electric vehicles, and has won international awards such as "2022 European Car of the Year", "2023 North American Car of the Year", and "2023 World Performance Car" for its excellent quality and commerciality, and has been widely praised around the world, demonstrating Kia's world-leading electrification technology and further deepening the brand mark of "Technical Kia".
In response to the characteristics of China's new energy vehicle market, the Kia EV5 is designed for consumers who are exploring a new life and paying attention to quality of life, as the core model of Kia's electrification transformation, a special model launched by Kia to celebrate its 80th anniversary, and the first global model of Kia to be launched in China. From the beginning of its development, the Kia EV5 has done sufficient research for Chinese users to better meet the needs of Chinese users. Since its launch at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, it has been deeply loved by Chinese consumers with its pure exterior design, flexible and practical space, maternal and infant environmental protection intelligent cockpit, and efficient three-electric system.
At the technical level, Kia is also actively exploring a new future of intelligence, electrification and sustainability. Taking Kia's E-GMP platform, which is the most important in the era of electrification, as an example, this platform not only has the basic attributes of modularization and standardization to improve R&D efficiency, but also the architecture of its pure electric exclusive platform with short front overhang and long wheelbase allows it to realize the flexible arrangement of vehicle width, wheelbase, front and rear overhangs, etc., which can not only accommodate high-capacity and dense lithium battery packs, but also achieve flexible space and model layout.
More importantly, the E-GMP platform is capable of 400V/800V dual-regulation fast charging, which supports two fast charging specifications without the need for additional adapters to meet the charging needs of all fast charging infrastructures. Its fast charging power can range from 25kW and 150kW all the way up to 350kW, which can increase the range of 100km in 5 minutes and 80% in 18 minutes. Coupled with excellent passive safety and efficient heat pump system and BMS predictive diagnostics, it is able to achieve both high performance and high safety.
In terms of technology and product localization, Kia currently has the "Iron Triangle" development force of China Technology Research Institute, China Forward-looking Digital R&D Center and Guizhou Big Data Center in China, and will actively cater to the characteristics of the Chinese market and user needs based on Kia's dedicated platform for electric vehicles, focusing on the four major technical directions of mobility, electrification, connected technology and autonomous driving, to create technologies and products that better meet the needs of Chinese users.
Not only products and technologies, but Kia's new energy strategy in China can be said to cover all aspects. For example, in business areas such as charging networks, channel systems, and brand services, Kia is completely revolutionizing the user experience. Up to now, Kia has cooperated with Shell to build ultra-fast charging piles in key cities across the country, and expanded the layout of the basic charging network by cooperating with electric vehicle charging service companies such as Nenglian Zhidian, as well as laying charging piles at dealer outlets, so as to bring efficient and convenient charging services to users. In addition, Kia has also joined forces with Sime Darby and other major dealer groups to expand the channel network and promote the SI 2.0 upgrade of dealer showrooms in an orderly manner to build a more complete sales and service system. The Kia app has also been launched, optimizing and upgrading the user experience from all areas of car life and realizing the digital transformation of user services.
Whether it is products, technologies, brands or user services, it is not difficult to find that Kia is realizing its "2030 Strategy" with in-depth transformation in all dimensions, practicing its own road of intelligent electric transformation, and accelerating its transformation from an automotive company to the world's leading "sustainable mobility solution provider" in a down-to-earth and determined manner. Looking to the future, Kia, a global car brand based on technology and "responsibility first", will continue to transform in the face of challenges, and contribute to Kia's unique strength and write a glorious chapter for Kia in the intelligent, electrified and sustainable future.