{"id":20224,"date":"2022-04-18T12:03:58","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T16:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=20224"},"modified":"2022-04-18T12:03:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T16:03:58","slug":"1135624_kia-confirmed-the-ev9-electric-suv-for-the-us-now-what-about-that-electric-pickup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=20224","title":{"rendered":"Kia confirmed the EV9 electric SUV for the US: Now what about that electric pickup?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Kia electric pickup has already been confirmed as a global model. But it would need to be an upscale model\u2014not focused entirely around value and affordability\u2014to make sense in America, a US Kia executive suggested to Green Car Reports<\/em>\u00a0at the New York auto show last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kia promised the EV9 SUV for the U.S. market starting in the second half of 2023\u2014with exact timing yet to be confirmed. Kia also hasn\u2019t yet made any confirmation of plans to assemble the EV9 or any other electric vehicle in the U.S., but Kia America marketing VP Russell Wager said the company is \u201cdefinitely investigating\u201d that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kia suggested the pickup will ride on the same E-GMP platform that\u2019s the basis for the EV9,\u00a0Kia EV6<\/a>, Hyundai Ioniq 5<\/a>, Genesis GV60, and various other dedicated electric vehicles from these brands, which share some development resources. Kia has also confirmed that the production EV9 will offer three rows of seating and a range of up to 300 miles.<\/p>\n

\"Kia<\/p>\n

Kia Concept EV9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Under Kia\u2019s Plan S, it intends (globally) to sell 500,000 EVs annually by 2025<\/a> and four million EVs annually by the end of the decade. That includes the introduction of 11 EVs by 2026, plus an ambitious sustainability roadmap<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/strong>The company hasn\u2019t yet broken down what exactly Plan S means for the U.S., in numbers. But as Wager pointed out, Kia is now the number-two EV seller in the U.S. (after only Tesla), even though the EV6 just hit the market February 1. It was no fluke, he argued. Unlike Hyundai, Kia has the U.S. allocation of that model to keep up the pace and it has the support of its dealers to sell EVs<\/a> at the vast majority of its stores in 50 states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kia’s three separate EV models, including the EV9, EV6 and Niro EV, represent a larger EV commitment than most other full-line brands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u201cWe are evaluating where and what may come here,\u201d Wager explained when pressed further about the Kia electric truck<\/a>, stopping short of confirming it for the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kia<\/p>\n

Kia EV teaser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe would love that; our dealership body would love that,\u201d he added. \u201cBut at the same time we want to make sure it\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/strong>What would \u201cright\u201d be for a U.S.-bound Kia electric truck? Wager confirmed that it won\u2019t be in a high-value, low-price segment like Ford\u2019s Maverick Hybrid pickup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKia is no longer “America’s Best Value,”” Wager said, referring to the actual tagline Kia used in the U.S. for years.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u201cThat’s not what the brand is about anymore,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo if we’re going to bring any sort of truck into the lineup, it needs to fit within what we’re doing now, of moving a little bit more premium in the designs, in the interiors and the technologies, the offerings. It is not going to be\u2014part of our portfolio\u2014an entry level vehicle into the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/strong>That doesn\u2019t bode well for the entry-level EV Kia is developing globally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kia<\/p>\n

Kia EV teaser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Wager added that with the electric truck, Kia is closely watching what the competition is doing, and suggested there\u2019s a little bit of wait-and-see.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u201cEveryone says the demand is there; we’re gonna see what the sales look like,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Does that apply to traditional-looking models like the F-150 Lightning<\/a> or Chevy Silverado EV<\/a>, completely new propositions like the Rivian R1T,<\/a> or the radically different Tesla Cybertruck<\/a>? We\u2019d venture it\u2019s all of the above.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Kia electric pickup has already been confirmed as a global model. But it would need to be an upscale model\u2014not focused entirely around value and affordability\u2014to make sense in America, a US Kia executive suggested to Green Car Reports\u00a0at the New York auto show last week.\u00a0 Kia promised the EV9 SUV for the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}