New Delhi: Kia, which grabbed about 6.7% market share within the Indian passenger car (PV) market throughout CY 2022, is assured of tracing the expansion trajectory for this yr as properly the place it expects to report a year-on-year development of 10% or much more. In CY 2022, the corporate clocked 2.54 lakh unit gross sales within the home market which is predicted to develop to 2.80 lakh models in CY 2023.
“We now have been in a position to seize this market share by rising at twice the tempo of the market. Final yr the business grew at 23% and Kia was up by 40%. This yr the business is pegged anyplace round 5% and hopefully we’ll develop at 10%. Within the course of, if the market share will increase, that may be a bonus,” Hardeep Singh Brar, Vice President and Head of Advertising and Gross sales, Kia India, instructed ETAuto.
The Korean automaker which entered the Indian market with Seltos in August 2019, now sells 5 fashions within the country- Seltos, Sonet, Carnival, Carens and EV6. Now it has no plans to launch a brand new car throughout 2023.
By promoting 45,494 models within the first 5 months of its foray within the Indian market, it grabbed a market share of 1.5% in 2019. Within the following yr, Kia entered the Prime 5 OEM record and took 5.8% of the pie.
Globally, Kia has introduced plans to drive in 14 battery electrical fashions (BEVs) by 2027. Certainly one of these may also be bought in India- a regionally manufactured mass market electrical PV to be launched within the nation in 2025.
The South Korean automaker’s world portfolio consists of completely different physique kinds together with sedans. For India, it stays centered on SUVs and MPVs. “After we entered India, we had been very clear that the shift is going on in the direction of leisure autos (RVs) i.e SUVs and MPVs. We wish to keep centered on this as a result of there’s a variety of power in being centered on a small portfolio, which now occupies about 50% share. 5 years in the past it was lower than 25% and we took a name that we wish to be on this area and it actually labored properly for us. We wish to be often called an organization which is into RV and never into small vehicles. It additionally provides a flip to our model. We wish to keep centered on this product portfolio,” he mentioned.
On the ongoing Auto Expo 2023, the automaker showcased a luxurious leisure car (RV) KA4 and an electrical SUV Idea EV9. First unveiled on the Los Angeles Auto Present in November 2021, EV9 can be launched in worldwide markets within the first quarter of 2023. Nonetheless, Brar didn’t share the timeline for its India launch.
Kia has additionally introduced an funding of INR 2,000 crore in India for EV associated R&D, manufacturing, and infrastructure growth.
Going ahead, the corporate expects that headwinds like inflation, hike in rates of interest and the worldwide disaster might influence the business development. “As of now, it seems to be just like the business would hit about 4 million passenger autos on this calendar yr.”
In 2022, the business recorded highest-ever home gross sales volumes of three.8 million PVs.
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