Kia India plans to sell 2 lakh cars in FY22

Kia India has revealed its plan to sell 2 lakh cars in the current fiscal. Also, the South Korean automaker aims to reach a cumulative sales number of four lakh units by January next year, reports PTI. Also, Kia India aims to ship about 50,000 units to various global markets during the current financial year.

The company hopes that it will be able to reach its goal on the back of strong demand for personal mobility options from the consumers, amidst the pandemic.

The South Korean automaker currently sells models such as Seltos, Sonet and Carnival in India. In 2020, Kia sold 155,678 units in the domestic market and dispatched 40,440 units to various overseas markets. The automaker has witnessed success with the Seltos SUV, its first car in India. Sonet comp[act SUV too has received a pretty good response from the buyers.

Talking about its future plan, Kia India Vice-President and Head (Sales and Marketing) Hardeep Singh Brar told the news agency that the automaker's first priority right now is to overcome supply chain challenges. "The first step is to come back to normal and achieve a target of two lakh units in the domestic market and about 50,000 units in exports so that we can hit the 2.5 lakh sales mark during the year (FY22). This is our short term goal," he said.

Kia has already become the fastest car brand in India to cross the 3 lakh cumulative sales mark in less than two years. Brar has pointed to the pent-up demand plus shift towards personal mobility options due to pandemic that has helped it to drive the sales demand.

However, the chip shortage is affecting its production, accepted Kia. "Supply chain challenge is the only negative we can think of at the moment," Brar said while talking about the issues which could derail the growth story for the brand.

He also said that the company's production has been down by around 10% currently due to a semiconductor shortage. However, he expects the crisis will be over in near term. "By October, we should be running at the capacity we would like to run. Right now, we are doing between 15,000-17,000 units per month and we would be running around 18,000-20,000 units by the fourth quarter (calendar year)," Brar said.