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EVs ARE Being Held Back by Kia!!

3K views 36 replies 18 participants last post by  Panda 
#1 ·
#12 ·
Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory? But...

How many PHEV and EV Niros would Kia have sold in Spain in the last 2 months of the year? A few hundred? Kia sells half a million cars in the EU a year - so if this is an attempt at massaging its 2020 sales mix, it's not a very effective one! Surely more likely this is an internal quota or sales target initiative in Spain rather than a co-ordinated Kia attempt at manipulating its 2020 compliance.

The reality is that Kia - and their cousins at Hyundai - got themselves about 2 years ahead of the market with an affordable and practical, long range family EV. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sell as many cars as they could build at premium non-discounted prices and to establish themselves as EV brands before the competition got anywhere close. Why would they duck all that in order to massage their compliance figures in 2020? Why even release the cars in 2018/19 in that case?

This looks much more likely to be a massive cock-up in totally mismanaging their battery supply rather than a lame effort to manipulate their 2020 sales. I might be wrong, but....
 
#15 ·
This looks much more likely to be a massive cock-up in totally mismanaging their battery supply rather than a lame effort to manipulate their 2020 sales. I might be wrong, but....
I think you're right, but it does stretch the bounds of incompetence if that is the case. Their (kia / hyundai) battery issues started with the ioniq several years ago, and they still underestimate the demand?!

How did Tesla find a supplier for the cells for the Chinese built Model 3s in a fraction of the time that Kia/Hyundai have taken to still not fix their supply chain issues for much smaller numbers?
 
#17 ·
The Kia Hyundai alliance are OK for 2019 so are probably delaying BEV and PHEV (under 50g) sales to 2020 to get "super credits" which make a return. Each car that qualifies gets 2.0 car credits which allows them to sell more of their larger (profitable) ICE SUVs. We know (from quotes) they don't make net profit on their BEVs at present.
 
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#16 ·
There is another (earlier) thread on this topic...

 
#19 ·
Soul EV cancelled for this year. Not happening until MY 2021!

From Green Car reports just now:

The Kia Soul EV has now officially been delayed to the 2021 model year. The model was EPA-rated at 243 miles for the 2020 model year and originally expected to go on sale in the second quarter of the year. Delays could be related to production-constraint issues at Kia’s facilities, although a spokesman didn’t elaborate.
 
#24 ·
I don't believe they ever planned to sell a lot of Kona and e-Niro. The approach was to get experience of making, selling and servicing them ready for a next generation built on a (more cost effective) dedicated EV platform.

We will see the next generation mid 2020 with deliveries 2021.

 
#29 ·
I don't believe they ever planned to sell a lot of Kona and e-Niro. The approach was to get experience of making, selling and servicing them ready for a next generation built on a (more cost effective) dedicated EV platform.

We will see the next generation mid 2020 with deliveries 2021.

I agree with you. I think I read somewhere that originally Hyundai / Kia had planned to sell 60-80% less long range EVs (Kona/Niro). The success and the worldwide positive press took them by surprise. They ramped up as best they could but were limited by supply of batteries. Sure you can get as many batteries as you want but if you don't pre order you can only get others cancelled orders / unused allocations etc. After this you are talking about battery priced 50-200% higher if not pre ordered. Which makes 64kwh battery packs far too expensive. I see a company who dipped its toes in the water and liked the results so puts a whole foot in the water. They were still wearing trousers so couldn't put there legs in.

Anyway hopefully the current success is showing them that EVs are the future, not Hydrogen or Ice.
 
#27 ·
Or they believed/knew full well that users loyal to their brand would buy another diesel or petrol.
Why is is hard to believe that any commerical enterprise would favour a profitable product line over an unprofitable one?
Only those who are currently seeing market share being erroded are likely to make any more EVs than they need to keep production lines ticking over
 
#28 ·
In another thread UK customers are reporting delivery of batch 5. Apart from some individuals having delays in white cars being delivered (blue and grey seem to be ok). This would suggest that Kia are on track for delivering the number of cars they said they would.
 
#31 ·
I think the liklihood is that if we get a no deal Brexit and we are not bound by EU emissions legislation (which we may still be, if it is already passed into UK law) then we will see no Kia/Hyundai EVs next year. They desperately need to earn the emissions credits in the EU so that and the home market is wear most or all EVs will go!
 
#36 ·
Having just got a Tesla-equivalent-price quote for a Kona, i cant bring myself to get a Kona just yet, I'll probably use EVEZY as a stopgap until early-mid next year when maybe its a bit clearer whats out there and maybe soem sanity will prevail on prices or if not i might go s/h for a while. Most of my mileage is short, any long range journeys I'll just rent a Tesla for.
 
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