Kia India to reduce exports to help bolster supply for domestic market

Kia India is looking at increasing its supply capacity for the domestic market in the country and while some of that thrust will come from improving production capacity at its plant in Andhra Pradesh, it will also bring down its exports' volumes in order to improve supply to customers here.

Kia India currently offers models like the Seltos SUV, Carens MPV and the EV6 electric vehicle. On Thursday, the company unveiled the updated Sonet as well, a model that was first launched in 2020 and has so far notched up 3.68 lakh units in sales. While Kia India also exports some of these models from India to select global markets, the company is now looking to counter its rivals in what is the world's third-largest vehicle market - in terms of sales - with a more focused approach.

Kia made its India debut in 2019 with the Seltos and has since emerged as a key player in the country's passenger vehicle (PV) landscape. But competition has also intensified by several notches over the past few years, prompting the company to assure of an even more intensive approach here. “We have an aggressive business plan for next year. We are looking to add 100 more sales outlets and enhance installed production capacity by 1 lakh units," Tae-Jin Park, Kia India MD and CEO, told news agency PTI.

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Kia India rolls out its models from its factory in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and this facility has a current capability of manufacturing 3.4 lakh units each year. And at present, 20 per cent of all the models driven out from here make way to overseas markets. Park has said that this will be brought down to 10 per cent in order to better bolster supply for the domestic Indian market.

Sales channels are a key focus area as well with Kia having 429 sales outlets at present. This number will be increased with a dedicated approach of having a solid presence in tier III and tier IV towns. Park also confirmed to PTI that while the latest Carnival and the EV9 will have an India launch in 2024, the company is also looking at the possibility of driving in an SUV that is slightly larger than the Seltos.