This file photo provided by Kia Corp. shows its headquarters building with its new company logo in Yangjae, southern Seoul.
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Friday it will launch seven all-electric models by 2027 to gain a share of the growing electric vehicle market.
Kia said it will release its pure electric crossover model based on a new EV platform called the electric-global modular platform (E-GMP) in the first quarter, the company said in a statement.
The new vehicle with the project name of “CV” will be the first global model to bear Kia’s new logo. It also comes with a battery that enables an electric driving range of over 500 kilometers and a high-speed charging time of under 20 minutes, it said.
Kia also plans to introduce sedans, sport utility vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles based on the new EV platform for the next seven years.
The maker of the K5 sedan and the Telluride SUV plans to beef up its EV lineup with 11 models, including the seven E-GMP-based ones, by 2025.
With its strengthened EV lineup, it aims to achieve a 6.6 percent share of the global battery-powered EV market by 2025 and global annual sales of 500,000 units by 2026.
Kia’s current EV market share is not available as its EV sales accounted for only 1 percent of its overall sales in 2019.
Kia announced the EV plans at an online showcase event in which it also announced details of its new brand and slogan strategy.
This photo, provided by Kia Motors Corp. on Jan. 6, 2021, shows a total of 303 drones forming the new logo of South Korea’s second-biggest carmaker during a virtual ceremony to unveil its new logo and brand slogan.
Kia recently changed its corporate name from Kia Motors Corp. to Kia Corp., signaling the brand breaking away from its traditional manufacturing-driven business model.
It also changed its brand slogan from “The Power to Surprise” to “Movement that inspires.”
“We are breaking away from our traditional manufacturing-driven business model and expanding into new and emerging business areas by creating innovative mobility products and services that meet customer needs,” Kia President Song Ho-sung said in the showcase.
Kia Senior Vice President Artur Martins in charge of the company’s global brand and customer experience division said, “Movement has always been at heart of our brand, and moving people at the core of our business. Movement helps humankind to constantly progress, improve and evolve. That is why at Kia we believe that movement inspires ideas.”
A company slogan is a short phrase that follows its brand name in advertisements and marketing materials. It can be a powerful marketing tool as is the case with Nike’s “Just Do It” and Apple’s “Think Different.”
This image provided by Hyundai Motor shows the front of the all-electric IONIQ 5 CUV to be unveiled in February 2021.
On Wednesday, Kia’s bigger affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. said it plans to unveil the IONIQ 5, its first EV model with E-GMP, next month.
The IONIQ 5 midsize crossover vehicle is equipped with a battery that enables driving over 500 km on a single charge and ultra-fast charging to 80 percent capacity within 18 minutes.
Hyundai also plans to introduce the IONIQ 6 midsize sedan in 2022 and the IONIQ 7 large SUV in 2024. It will begin using alphanumeric names like its bigger rivals, such as BMW, whose models are named Series No. 1-8.
Hyundai’s independent Genesis brand also plans to launch an all-electric model this year and will eventually fill its lineup with zero-emission models in the future.
Hyundai and Kia together form the world’s fifth-biggest carmaker by sales.
The country’s two biggest carmakers aim to sell a combined 7.08 million vehicles in 2021, 12 percent more than their sales of 6.45 million units a year earlier.
(Yonhap)
