Amid concerns of losing out, Kia may start manufacturing EVs in the US soon
Kia Corp is reportedly planning to begin manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) in the United States from 2024 onwards. As per reports in the South Korean media citing sources, Kia is looking at manufacturing EVs for the American market from the US itself.
South Korean media outlets Maeil Business Newspaper and TV channel SBS reported that Kia is planning to kickstart local manufacturing operations in the US from 2024. While Kia has not officially announced any such plans, there may be some weight to the reports as there have been concerns among Korean auto giants US President signed The Inflation Reduction Act into law.
The Inflation Reduction Act basically adds federal tax credits for EVs that are manufactured for the US market in the US itself. While this is likely to benefit American manufacturers and others who have factories within the country, the Koreans - primarily Kia and Hyundai - are at risk of losing out a potential market share. In fact, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol even made his displeasure known with a senior government official calling The Inflation Reduction Act a ‘betrayal', as per Bloomberg. (Read full report here)
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The US is one of the largest car markets and EV adoption here is also one of the fastest. As such, automotive companies are looking at offering more and more models to potential customers. While Hyundai if already offering its Ioniq 5 here, Kia has put up its EV6 on sale. Both have plans to massively expand product lineup but if models from rivals benefit from incentives, the Koreans could potentially miss the proverbial bus.
Last year, Hyundai was the second-best performing EV manufacturer in the US, trailing only Tesla. But the already hot contest is heating up further with global brands as well as local players making big moves to capture a larger share of the market.
