Kia unveils its first electric car in March when the stock price fell on’Apple car discontinuation’

Kia, who removed’car’ from its mission in the new year, said, “The profitability of electric vehicles (EV) has passed the break-even point.” This is through’Kia CEO Investor Day’, which was released on the social media’Youtube’ on the 9th. Kia’s share price once exceeded 100,000 won as news that it is discussing cooperation with’Apple Car’ recently, and after announcing that “the discussion with Apple has stopped,” the stock price fell by about 15%.

On this day, Kia clearly presented the expansion of EV, purpose-based vehicle (PBV), and mobility business as the three pillars of its business restructuring. Kia CEO Song Ho-sung declared, “Kia is now going beyond manufacturing and selling cars to become a brand that provides innovative experiences to customers.” He appeared wearing a blue T-shirt with Kia’s new slogan “Movement that Inspires” written on an hour long video.

Kia’s first vehicle to transform into an electric car maker is’CV’. The CV, which will be released for the first time in March this year and released in July, is a high-performance vehicle with a zero-back (100km/hour time) 3 seconds driving over 500km on a single charge. Kia plans to release a total of 11 electric vehicles by 2026, including 7 exclusive electric vehicles and 4 models with modified internal combustion engine platforms. This includes Carnival-like MPVs and SUVs.

Kia is also using purpose-based vehicles (PBVs) as a new business model. According to Kia, the PBV is a customized vehicle that can be used in various ways by reflecting customer demand based on a skateboard-type platform. In recent years, the consumer market for automobiles has declined, and Kia’s judgment is that companies’ purchases are increasing. Accordingly, Kia is planning to launch not only taxi-type PBVs, but also logistics delivery and camping PBVs from next year. CEO Song predicted, “In the future, the PBV area will be larger as it is combined with autonomous driving technology.”

The mobility business will feature a vehicle subscription and sharing service based on electric vehicles. Kia Subscription, a vehicle subscription service, will be launched in major European markets within this year. Kia recorded 180,000 members and 6 billion won in annual sales with the vehicle-sharing service’Webble’ in Madrid, Spain.

Kia introduced not only its mid- to long-term strategy, but also its financial situation in detail. Woo-jung Joo (Vice President) of the Finance and Economy Division, who is in charge of the company’s housekeeping, said, “Even in the second quarter of last year, when market demand fell sharply due to the corona 19, we recorded operating profits unlike other companies. The target is 6.7% compared to the previous 5%, and in 2025 we will raise it from 6% to 7.9%.”

We also had an optimistic outlook regarding EV, which will be Kia’s flagship product. Vice President Joo said, “The profitability of electric vehicles has already passed the break-even point in 2020. After the initial loss of business, we have entered the section of securing full-scale profitability with the launch of CVs this year.”

Kim Jin-woo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities Co., said, “Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Hyundai Mobis will pay attention to the fundamental improvement buried in the Apple car issue for a while.” Explained.

Reporter Kim Young-min [email protected]