Plan S strategy to spearhead transition to EV, mobility solutions by 2025; dedicated EV model in 2021; targets global annual sales target of 500,000 EVs, 1 million eco-friendly vehicles by 2026
14 Jan 2020 | 5580 Views | By Autocar Pro News Desk
Kia Motors Corporation today announced details of ‘Plan S’, its mid- to long-term strategy aimed at progressively establishing a leadership position in the future automotive industry, encompassing electrification and mobility services, as well as connectivity and autonomy.
Alongside Kia’s 2025 financial and investment strategy, details of Plan S were announced ...
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Kia Motors Corporation today announced details of ‘Plan S’, its mid- to long-term strategy aimed at progressively establishing a leadership position in the future automotive industry, encompassing electrification and mobility services, as well as connectivity and autonomy.
Alongside Kia’s 2025 financial and investment strategy, details of Plan S were announced to shareholders, analysts and credit-rating agencies at the company’s CEO Investor Day in Seoul today.
The Plan S strategy outlines Kia’s preemptive and enterprising ‘shift’ from a business system focused on internal combustion engine vehicles toward one centered on EVs and customised mobility solutions. The company’s ongoing brand innovation and profitability enhancement will support the two-track Plan S strategy targeting the shift toward electric and autonomous vehicles as well as mobility services.
11 BEVs by end-2025
By the end of 2025, Kia plans to offer a full line-up of 11 battery electric vehicles. With these models Kia is looking to achieve a 6.6% share of the global EV market (excluding China), while also attaining a 25% share of its sales from its eco-friendly cars. With the global EV market expected to gain strength by 2026, Kia is aiming for 500,000 annual EV sales and global sales of 1 million eco-friendly vehicles (excluding China). This overall strategy ties in with parent company Hyundai Motor Group's EV-driven global growth roadmap
Alongside these objectives, Kia will offer EV-based mobility services as part of its new business model, helping solve global urban problems such as environmental pollution. In the Purpose Built Vehicle (PBV) market, anticipated to grow on the back of expanding car-sharing and e-commerce businesses, the company will secure leading-edge competitiveness.
Plan S will see Kia Motors invest a total of 29 trillion won (US $25 billion) by the end of 2025 to establish leadership in vehicle electrification and diversify its business. By the end of this period, Kia Motors is targeting a 6% operating profit margin and 10.6% return on equity (ROE) ratio to secure the necessary capital and maximise shareholder value.
“As the auto industry undergoes turbulent changes, today is also an opportune time for Kia Motors to radically transform itself into a global enterprise dedicated to spearheading customer value-led innovations,” said Kia Motors president and CEO Han-woo Park. “Kia Motors will actively innovate to take on the challenges ahead, identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities to propel the company forward.”
CEO Park added: “Plan S is a bold and enterprising roadmap for Kia’s future business transition, buttressed by the two pillars of electric vehicles and mobility solutions. Our approach is to put customers first, and Kia will reinvigorate its brand innovation by developing products and services that offer new experiences for customers.”
Two key objectives
As the two strategic objectives of Plan S, Kia will concentrate on leading the popularisation of electric vehicles, and expanding mobility services for electric and autonomous vehicles, as well as entering the PBV business.
The company will pursue innovations across the board, encompassing brand identity, corporate identity, design identity and user experience, among other fields. Kia aims to enable customers to directly feel, experience, and understand the company’s evolution as an enterprise championing EVs and mobility solutions
Kia’s new brand system, which is slated to be revealed in the second half of this year, is currently being formulated under clear objectives. This includes becoming a pioneer in the age of EVs, a brand beloved by the millennial generation (those with a good grasp of information technology born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, a period witnessing the transition from the analog to the digital era) and Z generation (those born after the mid-1990s and grown up largely in a digital environment with a natural inclination for using digital tools, hence their nickname, ‘digital natives’), and a symbol of challenge and innovation.
Preemptive transition to EV business, first EV model in 2021
Kia will focus on securing its leadership in the global EV market by adopting a strategy of product differentiation, such as launching a dedicated EV model, as well as by establishing a company-wide innovation system.
Kia plans to lay the ground for its leap forward by transitioning to an EV-based business system ahead of competitors, leveraging its production capabilities in manufacturing internal combustion engine vehicles.
By prioritising future customer value, the company also plans to develop and release innovative EV models, offering a differentiated product appeal, such as an EV-specialized design, user experience and quality. Starting with the launch of its maiden dedicated EV model in 2021, Kia will establish a full EV line-up of 11 models by 2025, adding new EV models to its whole line-up along the way, including passenger vehicles, SUVs and MPVs from 2022.
The dedicated EV model to be launched 2021 will be built on a unique platform specifically engineered to accommodate the car’s world-leading EV powertrain and technologies. It will offer a crossover design which blurs the boundaries between passenger and sport utility vehicles, a future-oriented user experience, a single-charge driving range of over 500 kilometers, and sub-20-minute high-speed charging time.
Across its EV line-up, Kia plans to operate two different types of EVs with different charging capabilities (400V/800V) -- high-performance dedicated models and derivative models with reasonable pricing -- to meet the diverse needs of customers.
Growth in global EV sales will be pursued in accordance with a customized, market-oriented strategy, which considers regional differences in environmental regulation, subsidies, infrastructure and more.
In Korea, North American, Europe, and other developed markets which face stricter fuel-efficiency standards, the company will foster the development of the EV industry. A full EV line-up will be established in these markets by 2025, and the sales of EVs will account for about 20% of Kia’s total sales in developed markets.
In emerging markets, Kia will focus on expanding sales of internal combustion engine vehicles, while reviewing the selective entry of EVs depending on demand in each market.
By adopting an innovative EV architecture (basic vehicle framework) development system, Kia says it will establish a structure of planning, development and production, capable of maximising customer value by effectively incorporating market demands from the early product planning stage.
Through these process innovations, which enable the cost- and time-efficient development of a diverse range of EV models, Kia expects to bolster its EV competitiveness.
Significantly, in May last year, Kia invested in Croatian performance EV manufacturer Rimac Automobili; and in September invested in IONITY, which specialises in building high-speed charging infrastructures. The IONITY investment in particular will pave the way for advancing Kia’s business of high-speed recharging infrastructure development in Europe and other major countries.