Song Hoseong, Kia President, "Major Transformation into an Eco-Friendly Mobility Solutions Company" (Comprehensive)

Kia to Hold CEO Investor Day Online on the 9th
President Song Ho-sung: "Complete Transformation into an Eco-Friendly Mobility Solutions Company"

Song Hoseong, President of Kia, is giving a presentation at the CEO Investor Day held online on the 9th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Kia has declared this year as the inaugural year of a major transformation and announced a full-scale reorganization into an electric vehicle and eco-friendly mobility solutions company. The company plans to launch seven dedicated electric vehicles by 2026 and sell 1.6 million eco-friendly vehicles annually by 2030, accelerating its electrification transition.

On the 9th, at the CEO Investor Day held online, Kia President Ho-sung Song stated, "We declare this year, with a new logo, new design, and new name, as the inaugural year of Kia's great transformation," adding, "Kia will now establish itself as a brand that provides innovative mobility experiences to customers, beyond just manufacturing and selling cars."

President Song said, "Kia Motors will now disappear into history, and under the name Kia, we will embrace a new era of mobility," emphasizing, "We will position ourselves as a brand that offers innovative mobility experiences to customers, moving beyond merely manufacturing and selling vehicles."

Plan S, Disclosure of Three Core Businesses

On this day, Kia revealed the three core businesses of Plan S, along with detailed strategies, mid-to-long-term financial and investment goals, to shareholders, analysts, and credit rating agencies. Plan S, unveiled last year, is Kia's mid-to-long-term strategy to proactively transition to an electric vehicle (EV) business system and provide eco-friendly mobility solutions to enhance brand innovation and profitability.

Kia disclosed the three core businesses related to Plan S. First, regarding electric vehicles, the company plans to establish a full lineup of 11 models by 2026 and aims to sell 1.6 million units annually by 2030. It intends to increase the proportion of eco-friendly vehicles to 40% of total sales by 2030. In particular, Kia aims to become a global top-tier electric vehicle brand by selling more than 880,000 EVs annually by 2030.

Until last year, Kia had only released derivative electric vehicles based on internal combustion engine models, but starting with the dedicated electric vehicle CV launching this year, it will strengthen its dedicated EV lineup. To accelerate electrification, Kia plans to launch seven dedicated electric vehicles by 2026, one year earlier than originally planned, building a full lineup of 11 EVs including four derivative electric vehicles.

Additionally, Kia plans to launch the first model, PBV01, in the purpose-built vehicle (PBV) market in 2022 and aims to achieve annual sales of one million units by 2030, aspiring to become the global sales leader in the PBV market. While entering the early PBV market faster than anyone else by utilizing existing vehicles, Kia will meet diverse customer needs through a segmented product lineup (for mobility, logistics, retail, etc.).

Thirdly, Kia plans to focus its business on areas with long-term growth opportunities where service providers are absent or where ecosystems are insufficiently established despite the presence of competitors, rather than targeting all customer segments in the mobility market.

In the B2C mobility business sector, Kia will expand services in the growing shared mobility market that meets urban environmental regulations. The car-sharing service 'WiBLE,' currently operated for individual customers in Madrid, Spain, will be expanded this year to include corporate and shared services. Additionally, the KiaMobility service, previously operated only in Italy and Russia, will be newly launched in four European countries this year.

Song Hoseong, President of Kia, is giving a presentation at the CEO Investor Day held online on the 9th.

Targeting 3.7% Global Auto Market Share This Year

Kia also announced its business plan and financial targets for this year. The company aims to sell 2.922 million units worldwide this year, a 12% increase from the previous year (based on wholesale sales), and achieve a 3.7% share of the global automobile market.

Financial targets for this year include sales revenue of 65.6 trillion KRW (a 10.8% increase from the previous year), operating profit of 3.5 trillion KRW (a 70.1% increase), and an operating profit margin of 5.4%. To achieve these business and financial goals, Kia emphasized that it will continue launching competitive new models, expanding sales of high-profit models, increasing eco-friendly vehicle sales, and improving its image through brand relaunching.

To this end, starting with the fully redesigned K7 and the enhanced K3 in the first quarter, Kia plans to introduce competitive new models including the new generation of the global best-selling SUV Sportage and the enhanced flagship sedan K9 in the second quarter, followed by the first dedicated electric vehicle CV and the enhanced European strategic model Ceed in the third quarter.

In the mid-to-long term, considering improvements in sales mix and an increase in the share of recreational vehicles (RVs), Kia has revised upward its previously announced operating profit margin targets (5% in 2022 and 6% in 2025) to 6.7% in 2022 and 7.9% in 2025.

Kia plans to invest a total of 29 trillion KRW by 2025, reducing investment in existing business areas by 1 trillion KRW and reallocating that amount to strengthen core future technologies such as autonomous driving, hydrogen, and urban air mobility (UAM), with over 10 trillion KRW invested in future business sectors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.