Kia Australian sales record in sight

KIA Australia is set to eclipse 90,000 units sold if the brand has its trajectory on target for the 2025 calendar year.

The South Korean brand is off to a strong start so far this year, having tallied 19,734 units over the first quarter – an increase of 4.3 per cent year-on-year, and a standout performance in a market that is down overall, to the tune of 4.6 per cent.

At the launch of the new Kia EV3 – the brand’s smallest and most affordable electric vehicle yet – it was made clear by Kia Australia senior executives that the business is aiming for a high-performing second half, with Tasman ute likely to play a critical role in achieving the goal.

“I think that we're well in line to do 90,000 this year,” said Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith.

“I think the market will hold up quite well. There's a lot of uncertainty in the world, but as a country, we seem to have a great ability to keep things on an even keel.

“That’s been proven time after time over the last 30 years with meltdowns in other economies around the world, etcetera, etcetra.

“So, we’re confident the market will be 1.0 million to 1.1 million, and that will do our 90,000.”

Dennis Piccoli, Kia Australia chief operating officer, expanded on the breakdown of EV and electrified model sales and what part they would play in the mix.

“The EV5 is gaining some good traction, now that silly season is over … so we had a pretty strong EV performance last month with EV5,” he said, referring to the 478 units sold of the fully electric midsize SUV.

“This month (April) will be another stronger month for EV5, it will be a record month for EVs for the brand, and for EV five in particular.

“I said earlier on EV3, for us, based on supply, we think it will be 4000 to 5000 (total units in 2025), and the way things are shaping up with EV5, it’ll be 5000 to 6000.

“We think in that EV space we should, should be around 10,000 or 11,000 units on 90,000, which is one of the integral parts of our NVES strategy, as we try and find a balance mix between ICE, hybrid, plug-in and EV, so we can ride a year out with credit type situation moving into 2026,” he said.

Along with the new EV3 and recently added EV5, the brand will also refresh its EV6 line-up in the third quarter of 2023.

After the first three months of sales in 2025, Kia’s 19,734 sales ranked it fourth behind Toyota (57,797), Mazda (25,119) and Ford (21,399), and just ahead of Mitsubishi (19,065) and Hyundai (18,286).