Kia reports that its global vehicle sales in September increased by 4.8 percent year-over-year to 261,322 units. After nine months of 2023, the South Korean brand sold 2,354,072 vehicles (up 8.4 percent year-over-year).
In terms of all-electric car sales, September brought a significant increase in wholesale shipments (closely related to production) of Kia’s E-GMP-based models, which amounted to 10,322 (up 69 percent year-over-year).
Kia reports wholesale sales (on the manufacturer level or plant sales) – unless otherwise specified, unaudited, and on a preliminary basis.
What is most interesting is that last month, the Kia EV9 wholesale shipments not only surged to 6,015 units but also exceeded the Kia EV6, which noted only 4,307 units (down 29 percent year-over-year) – the lowest result since the start of volume production in August 2021.
Because the overall E-GMP volume was relatively stable over the past several months, it almost looks like Kia redirected its resources from EV6 to EV9.
Another finding is that the vast majority of EV9s were for export (almost 5,000 units), which suggests that soon we should see volume deliveries in the United States and Europe.
Kia Wholesale BEV sales last month (YOY change):
- EV6: 4,307 (down 29%)
- EV9: 6,015 (new)
- E-GMP BEVs: 10,322 (up 69%)
So far this year, Kia wholesale shipments of E-GMP-based electric cars exceeded 86,000 (up 41 percent year-over-year).
Kia wholesale BEV sales year-to-date (YOY change):
- EV6: 75,392 (up 23%)
- EV9: 11,332 (new)
- E-GMP BEVs: 86,724 (up 41%)
In its monthly sales data report, Kia also lists 12,941 retail sales of all-electric cars outside of South Korea, which combined with the wholesale shipments in South Korea (only models for which data are available), allows us to estimate the total volume for the month.
Last month, the total was at least 14,705 (up 29 percent year-over-year), which represents about 5.6 percent of the total volume.
Kia BEV sales last month:
- Retail sales outside South Korea: 12,941 or 5.9% of the total volume
- Total*: at least 14,705 (up 29% year-over-year) or 5.6% of the total volume
*South Korea (EV6, EV9) + overseas retail sales data (EV6, EV9, Niro EV, Niro Plus EV, Soul EV)
So far this year, the total sales of Kia BEVs exceeded 115,000 (up 9 percent year-over-year), which is almost five percent of the total volume.
For reference, in 2022, the company sold more than 130,000 all-electric cars.
Unfortunately, Kia does not report PHEV numbers.
