Toyota targeted! Cheaper hybrids coming as Kia plans dramatic Aussie petrol-electric expansion
Hybrid affordability in the Kia Australia line-up will be dramatically improved in 2025 as part of a strategy to ensure the Korean giant sells a record number of vehicles without incurring penalties from Australia’s new CO2 reduction scheme.
The petrol-electric hybrid boost will be allied with an aim to more than triple battery electric vehicle sales – led by the new EV3 and EV5 – to 11,000 in 2025.
It will not follow the Toyota lead and axe orthodox ICE from its passenger vehicle range. But it will limit supply of some of its cheapest internal combustion-engined models to encourage the uptake of hybrids as part of its overall strategy to comply with the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
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“We are well aware of what we have to do. The challenge for all manufacturers is the market has to accept what the mix of sales has to be. That’s the challenge,” said Kia Australia CEO.
Overall, with the Tasman diesel ute arriving early in the second half of the year, Kia aims to sell a record 90,000 vehicles, a total that would assuredly lock it into Australia’s top four sellers.
The hybrid expansion will include cheaper versions of the Sorento seven-seat SUV and Carnival large people-mover, both of which only have electrified assistance in their top-spec GT-Line models at the moment.
The updated Sportage (pictured top) arriving in May will add multiple all-wheel drive hybrid grades to the multiple front-wheel drive hybrids already on-sale.
This will be a particularly significant play because Sportage is Kia’s number one seller in Australia, with more than 22,000 departing showrooms in 2024.
Part of Kia’s strategy will be to reduce supply of the cheapest fleet favourite S and SX 2.0-litre four-cylinder front-wheel drive models to try and encourage those fleet buyers into hybrid.
“That [2.0] might start to organically reduce in the ordering,” conceded Kia Australia product chief Roland Rivero. “It will be there for the time being, but I think organically we will manage the stock levels so it doesn’t damage us under NVES.
“We are going to have to move them [fleet] to other powertrains like the hybrid.”
Diesel Sportage will be retained because it is not impacted significantly in the initial stages of the increasingly strict NVES emission reduction curve. Petrol four-cylinder and V6 have a greater emissions impact.
Therefore the cheapest 3.5-litre V6 petrol engines on offer with Sorento and Carnival will also dip in availability.
While all that means affordability of hybrid in the Kia lineup will improve, the actual entry-level cheapest price for different Kia model lines may go up as orthodox powertrain availability dries up.
The cheapest Sportage currently is the $32,995 2.0-litre FWD S. The cheapest FWD hybrid is the $45,950 SX FWD.
The Carnival GT-Line hybrid is the most expensive model in the line-up at $76,210. The cheapest is the $50,150 V6 S. In Sorento, the 3.5 S starts at $50,680, while the FWD and AWD GT-Line hybrids are priced at $70,330 and $73,330 respectively.
“It’s all about NVES, lowering our carbon footprint,” said Rivero. “Expect to see organically the mix of V6 petrols come down.
“It can’t just be all on EV3 and EV5. We are looking at every car line respectively to make sure they are all part of the mix.”
One hybrid model still looking uncertain for Australia at this point is the hybrid version of the new K4 small car. While the hatch version of the Mexican-built K4 will arrive before the year’s end, it’s proving harder to gain a hybrid.
“It’s one of those one step at time situations, whereby Mexico for the first time ever had to adjust the production line to cater to right-hand drive and Europe, so it’s a case of getting the fundamentals done first.
“Evolution in powertrain is the next focus.”
Note: Kia Australia execs were speaking to EV Central before the federal opposition announced a plan to scrap penalties under NVES if elected to government next month.
