Song Hoseong, Kia President, "EV3 Launch This Year... No Doubt About Electric Vehicle Popularization"

EV Series Aiming to Become the World's Top Luxury Brand
Strengthening Shareholder Returns... Conditional Expansion of Treasury Stock Cancellation Ratio
Female Outside Directors Exceed 50% for the First Time in the Group

Kia President Song Ho-sung emphasized that while electric vehicles (EVs) are experiencing a temporary slowdown in demand, the popularization of EVs is an inevitable future. He announced plans to target the electric vehicle market by launching the 'EV3' this year.

President Song made these remarks at the 80th General Shareholders' Meeting held on the 15th at Kia's headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. He stated, "We will lead the popularization of electric vehicles by launching the volume model (a high-sales main model) 'EV3' this year," and emphasized, "We will establish EV as a top-tier brand." The EV3 is a compact electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) that Kia plans to launch in the first half of this year.

Amid growing domestic and international uncertainties such as tightening policies in various countries and geopolitical conflicts, President Song proposed 'customer-centric and brand management' and securing a business foundation for purpose-built vehicles (PBV) as strategies to strengthen competitiveness in the slowing and increasingly competitive automotive industry.

He said, "EVs and PBVs represent new challenges and great opportunities for Kia," adding, "Although the electrification market has entered an era of popularization and is currently experiencing a temporary demand slowdown, no one will doubt that the era of electric vehicles will come in the future."

He continued, "The PBV business, scheduled to launch in mid-2025, is Kia's future growth engine and core business," and stated, "We will thoroughly prepare in advance for all necessary aspects including production, sales, ecosystem, and software solutions, including the Hwaseong EVO plant under construction at Autoland Hwaseong."

Kia also decided to strengthen its shareholder return policy. President Song announced that the company will expand the treasury stock cancellation ratio from the existing 50% to a conditional 100% this year. Accordingly, the existing 50% of treasury stock is scheduled to be canceled within the first half of this year, and the additional 50% will be confirmed for cancellation in the fourth quarter if financial targets are met based on cumulative results by the third quarter.

Meanwhile, at the shareholders' meeting, all agenda items including approval of financial statements and appointment of directors were passed. Among the two outside directors whose terms expired, Professor Cho Hwa-soon of Yonsei University's Department of Political Science and Diplomacy was reappointed, and Lee In-kyung, Vice President (CFO) of MBK Partners, was newly appointed as a successor to Han Cheol-soo, an advisor at the law firm Hwawoo. With Lee's appointment, the number of female outside directors at Kia rose to three, exceeding 50% for the first time within Hyundai Motor Group.

Kia also introduced online live streaming for the first time at this shareholders' meeting. Shareholders who applied in advance were able to watch the ongoing offline meeting in real time online.

Song Hoseong, President of Kia, is explaining to shareholders at the shareholders' meeting held on the 15th at Kia headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. (Provided by Kia)

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