Kia plans more EVs as India sales shift into top gear
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Live Events as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Addas a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: South Korea’s Kia Corp plans to expand its car manufacturing capacity in India to meet expected growth in domestic sales and overseas demand.The automaker, which clocked 17% sales volume growth to 191,949 vehicles in the first seven months of 2026, is targeting annual sales of 410,000 vehicles by 2030, Atul Sood, senior vice-president, marketing and sales at Kia India, told ET.With the sales projection nearing its current manufacturing capacity, the maker of Seltos and Sonet SUVs is weighing options to augment capacity to sustain future growth.“Our sales grew by 15% last year, and we are on track to close the current calendar year with a strong double-digit increase in volumes,” said Sood.
“Mid-term, we are targeting sales of 410,000 units, which should give us a market share of 7.6%. Going forward, we are looking at ways to expand capacity to not only serve the domestic market but also scale up exports from the country.”Kia can currently produce up to 430,000 vehicles annually at its manufacturing facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. Sood said a decision on capacity expansion will be taken shortly.To sustain its sales growth momentum, Kia will introduce 10 new vehicles in India, eight of which will be electrified.“While internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles will continue to be a part of our strategy, work is on to electrify our portfolio in a big way,” said Sood.
“We have seen strong traction towards electrification in the wake of the Middle East crisis. The EV market is not at the inflection point yet, but it is moving in the right direction. We will have multiple technologies, including EVs, strong hybrids and CNG, to meet customer needs here.”India is the fourth-largest market for Kia, accounting for 10% of its global sales.Data from the road ministry’s Vahan portal showed that electric car sales in India surged 90% year-on-year during March-July 2026. The share of EVs in new car sales nearly doubled to 7.8% in July from 4% in calendar 2025.Kia is also working on widening its pan-India network by entering more Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities.“Buying power in rural India is on the rise,” said Sood.
“We are expanding in Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets to reach out to customers there.”
The BriefWire