MILAN (ITALPRESS) – “For Kia, 2024 has a positive balance sheet. Considering the very complex and changing situation in the market, our results are in line with expectations: we are over 3 percent market share, which is the target we had set.” This was said by Giuseppe Bitti, president and CEO of Kia Italia, interviewed by Claudio Brachino for the TV magazine Italpress Economy. “It is clear that the market, especially in the second half of the year, has shown difficulties: the problems of the mobility world related to the green transition have come to the surface,” he explained. In recent years, automakers have defined industrial plans to achieve electrification goals, but in fact the market has not responded to the milestones that had been mapped out: this clearly creates a disconnect and a forcing with respect to the natural dynamics of the market.”For Bitti, 2025 “will be a totally different year for everyone because the CO2 emission thresholds allowed by Europe change: a car brand that closes the year with total sales standing 3 or 4 grams below the imposed thresholds next year, with the same volumes, would be above 20 or 25 grams and with fines of hundreds of millions of euros. It is estimated that if everyone were to apply the 2024 to 2025 market results, the fines would be around 11, 12 or 13 billion: it is absolutely meaningless because automakers have proposed electrified ranges that right now the market does not take up as it should. There are some countries that are clearly further ahead, but others that are much further behind, and this creates dynamics that are extremely difficult to manage. “Kia has launched the EV3, “the third model in a family of exclusively electric cars. It’s a B-segment crossover, almost an SUV, 100 percent electric, which has the same advanced technology as the larger models but has the right features in terms of size and in terms of technological content that are absolutely top notch in terms of performance, range and affordability.” In addition, “any form of ecobonus to support the purchase of electric cars has been totally cancelled: with the 6,000 euros bonus this year on electric cars, prices would have dropped below 30,000 euros, certainly a much more affordable figure for Italian families,” he stressed. “We have a sales target of about 300 units per month: today, electrics in Italy come to 4 percent, a far lower volume than in other European countries, because the Italian customer lacks a strong element that can lead him to purchase. The reduction of the price gap has been missing,” then beyond the infrastructure issue, “there is the problem of the cost of recharging: a hypercharger costs almost one euro per kilowatt, which is five times what electricity costs at home. If you can work on these elements and make the electric car accessible and affordable in use, I think the prejudices of most potential customers would be mitigated. This is a key step,” he reiterated. For the future, “the idea is to offer a wide range that can meet different needs: Kia is a global brand that sells in 155 countries around the world, and not in all macro market areas will electrification have to meet Europe’s timeline. It is planned that, from 2030 onward, 60 percent of Kia production will be electric cars, but 40 percent of more traditional cars will remain, at the very least hybrids,” Bitti explained. “In the history of Kia we decided to develop motorizations with LPG, a type of fuel extremely interesting on the Italian market because there are costs for refueling one euro less per liter than a traditional fuel,” the president and CEO of Kia Italia emphasized. “In addition, LPG improves engine performance in terms of CO2 emissions. However, we reasoned about the Full Hybrid technology that we offer on several of our models and thought of combining the two technologies. Trifuel is a Full Hybrid car that also has LPG conversion: the car goes with the electric motor, with the gasoline heat engine, and then with the LPG engine. Considering the combined range of the two tanks we are talking about 1400-1500 km, there is a CO2 advantage around 5%, and combining the engine of the hybrid configuration with the LPG allows optimizing the driveability characteristics with no small savings in economic terms. It seems the ideal solution for those who are not yet ready for pure electric, but see the hybrid as more accessible because the higher cost of the Full Hybrid car is offset by the operating costs,” he pointed out.The goal is “to become a mobility service provider: we are moving to offer our customers mobility services that start from the possibility of having a car for a day, all the way to more traditional purchase formulas. The consumer wants the flexibility of not investing in the traditional car purchase, but to be able to use the car for a certain time of the year or for certain needs. We have launched a formula that covers this need for an average rental period, Kia Flex, which allows without any down payment to use the car for a minimum period of 6 months, extendable up to 18, with a fixed fee that includes all the costs of the car. But there are plenty of other forms that also allow people to get closer to electric technology. If a customer does not yet feel ready or is not sure, he or she has the opportunity to take a kind of “extended test drive” that allows them to decide what is the best form: this is the key to success for the future, to meet a changing world.”
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