Kia, abandoned the company, moves forward as a mobility company

Kia Motors takes off the car from its company name and starts anew with Kia. It has been 31 years since Kia changed its name from Kia Industries to Kia Motors in 1990. In the future, Kia will focus on developing electric vehicles, various mobility solutions, and self-driving and eco-friendly purpose-based vehicles (PBVs).

On the morning of the 15th, Kia announced that it would open a’New Kia Brand Showcase’ through YouTube, etc., to change the company name and implement the’Plan S’strategy announced in January last year. Kia President Song Ho-sung declared, “Free movement and movement is a fundamental human instinct and a unique right. We will be reborn as a company that provides sustainable mobility solutions according to a new brand orientation and strategy for the future.” In line with that, the new brand slogan was also set as’Movement that inspires’.

Kia plans to develop a large number of new products in △electric vehicles △mobility solutions and services △PBV according to the mid- to long-term strategic plan S that was unveiled in January last year. First of all, electric vehicles are applied with the new electric vehicle platform’E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform)’, which was first unveiled by the Hyundai Motor Group last month.

Based on this platform, Kia plans to unveil the new electric vehicle’CV’ (project name) within the first quarter of this year. According to E-GMP, it is possible to run more than 500km after full charge, and it is expected that it will take only a short time of less than 20 minutes to charge 80%. This exclusive electric vehicle will be the first vehicle to have Kia’s new logo applied.

With the expansion of the global electric vehicle market, Kia pledged to occupy about 6.6% of the global electric vehicle market by 2025 and to sell 500,000 electric vehicles annually by 2026. In particular, by 2027, a total of 7 new exclusive electric vehicle products including CV will be released.

These new electric vehicles are expected to be released in a variety of vehicle types, including passenger cars (sedans) and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Karim Habib, head of the Kia Design Center, said, “We plan to design a more original and progressive electric vehicle so that the brand can be felt realistically in accordance with the intuitive dedicated electric vehicle name system.”

It will also develop various PBVs based on autonomous driving and electric drive. As Kia is cooperating with electric vehicle platform companies such as U.S. canoe and U.K., it plans to complete PBV-dedicated platforms with them, and then introduce vehicles that can adjust functions according to the needs of users.

Unlike electric vehicles produced according to E-GMP, PBVs are developed based on the’skateboard platform’. This platform, released by Canoe, is a module that standardizes batteries and electric motors on a flat frame, and significantly reduces the platform size, weight, and number of parts to secure indoor space and lower production costs. It can be used for various purposes, such as passengers, logistics, and mobile kiosks, simply by placing the upper body of various structures on the platform to suit PBV service. The industry predicts that the PBV market will increase to five times the current level by 2030 as e-commerce and car sharing services grow.

In particular, Kia plans to accelerate the development of sustainable mobility by increasing the use of clean energy and recycled materials. Kia has already invested in Indian mobility service provider Ola in 2019 and Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest vehicle calling service provider in 2018.

Kia decided to expand new business as well as improve the company’s working culture according to the company name change. President Song emphasized, “We will not only change the company name and logo, but will make every effort to have an autonomous and flexible working environment and a creative organizational culture for all employees in the company to meet the expansion of new business areas.”

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group decided to set up a hydrogen fuel cell system production plant in Guangzhou, China, and start operation from the second half of next year. The plant produces 6,500 hydrogen fuel cells per year, and plans to release products for the installation of the hydrogen electric vehicle’Nexo’. According to Hyundai Motor Group on the 15th, the government of the Guangzhou Development Zone gathered together with officials such as Lee Kwang-guk, the head of Hyundai Motor Group’s China business, and Lin Kuching, the growth of the Guangdong Province Department of Commerce, and signed a related investment contract.

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