Kia EV2: European-built electric SUV ‘probably no’ for Australia

Go to Australia says the beginner EV2 The all-electric crossover is “probably leaning towards no” for a local launch, citing production and freight costs as key challenges.

In conversation with Daily Sparkz At the launch of the new EV4 sedan, Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero said the local branch would struggle to get the price of the Slovakia-built EV2 below the entry-level price of the Korean EV3.

“(The EV2) probably won’t be offered at the price we would like,” Mr. Rivero told Daily Sparkz.

“It has to be comfortably below EV3, and if we can’t get it far enough below EV3, we start to question its viability for our market.”

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“We’ve mentioned in the past that it just has to make logical sense, especially when companies like BYD introduce the Atto 2 (with a price) that starts with a ‘3’.”

“Any variant we want to look at, we need to ensure it brings real value to Kia Australia, whether it is a true halo product or whether it is also positioned and priced accordingly,” Mr Rivero added.

Daily Sparkz recognizes that while the EV2 would not be subject to import duties like internal combustion engine vehicles from Europe, the higher production costs at Kia’s Slovakian factory, as well as the longer and more complex shipping route for delivering vehicles down under, are the biggest hurdles to the new model’s price.

To put this into perspective, the EV2 is expected to retail at around £25,000 (A$49,021) in the UK, while the Korean-built EV3 is priced at just over £33,000 (A$64,708). However, in Australia, the EV3’s base price starts at $47,600 plus on-road costs, which presents a significant challenge for the local arm due to direct currency conversion alone.