Is Kia’s sleek new EV6 electric vehicle the most in-demand car on sale in Australia today?
Kia Australia has stopped taking expressions of interest for its ground-breaking new 2022 Kia EV6 battery-electric SUV as demand reaches stratospheric levels.
The Korean brand has received more than 25,000 expressions of interest over the past few months, but only 500 units of the all-new EV6 are allocated for Australia in 2022.
There are currently about 140 that have docked and are heading out to customers.
The chief operating officer at Kia Australia, Damien Meredith, admitted he could sell around 3000 Kia EV6 cars per year in Australia, but told journalists at the national launch in Canberra that the company is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“The dealers are holding now about 1500 orders. Real orders. Actual orders,” said Meredith.
“We’re trying to get more on a daily basis, but at the moment it’s 500 [units this year].
“I’m an eternal optimist, I’d like to think it will [increase]. But our business plan is 500.”
At launch, the Kia EV6 is priced between $67,990 and $82,990 (plus on-road costs), packaged with a 77.4kWh lithium-ion battery that delivers a driving range of between 484km and 528km (WLTP), depending on the powertrain.
Meredith told carsales that EV6 stock allocations for 2023 won’t be set until later this year, but it’s expected to be sold out until at least early 2024.
“The business plan hasn’t been set for next year. So there is potential for the business plan deliver more EV6 units next year,” he said.
There are models sold overseas with smaller batteries and lower price tags that have been homologated for the Australian market, but Kia is yet to officially confirm their introduction here.
However, a more expensive GT model, with a supercar-like 3.5-second 0-100km/h sprint time, is set to arrive later this year and will be priced at around $100,000.
Many brands are facing challenges with delivering vehicles to customers in a timely manner as the global semi-conductor shortage and a variety of other COVID-related issues continue to wreak havoc on manufacturing programs.
Australia is not alone in its small vehicle allocation for the EV6 either, with Kia executives confirming that the world’s second-largest new car market after China, the US, will get only 1500 cars in its initial allocation.
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Keyword: Kia EV6 sold out until 2024