Source: Gasgoo
Kevin Ahn, CEO of South Korean automaker Kia Motors Asia Pacific, said the company expects a challenging market environment in the near term, given the impact of policies in some countries, but remains committed to its goal of selling 1.6 million electric vehicles a year by 2030.
Image Source: Kia
Ahn noted, “We didn’t bring a high-volume model to market. Especially this year, the market is changing very quickly and there are a lot of uncertainties. But our long-term goal is to have 1.6 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030. In the process of achieving this goal, there will be some gaps, there will be some difficulties, and some volumes will fall due to changes in market conditions and government policies.”
However, Ahn declined to comment on the impact of the European Union’s import tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese-made electric vehicles on the overall market, as well as the potential impact of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. president on the global auto market. “Recently the United States has finished their elections, there have been great changes and great expectations, so it is too early to discuss these issues.”
On October 13, Trump said that if he is elected, he may impose tariffs of more than 200% on vehicles imported from Mexico, and Trump has repeatedly attacked the Biden administration’s electric vehicle subsidy policy, saying that it only benefits foreign companies, not U.S. automakers, and said that he would take steps to reverse or completely abolish the policy.
Ahn said Kia plans to assemble electric vehicles at one of its plants in the U.S. state of Georgia. In addition, the company has started producing electric vehicles in China this year and plans to produce small electric vehicles in Europe.
