When it comes to Kia, perhaps not many people would think that it is a car manufacturer with a long history that can be traced back to 1944. As an important part of the world's third largest automobile group, Hyundai-Kia Group, this global automobile company that "starts in Asia and faces the world" with 80 years of car-making experience will have global sales of more than 3 million vehicles in 2023. , a year-on-year growth of 6.3%, achieving simultaneous progress in multiple markets. In many markets around the world, Kia has set new sales records.
In the Chinese market, Kia has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for 22 years. In the past 22 years, Kia, as one of the participants in China's automobile industry, has witnessed and personally promoted the rise and transformation of China's automobile industry. In the face of the current wave of new energy revolution in China, this car company, which has deep connections with China, is also accelerating its realization in the new travel era with its unchanging pioneering spirit, responsibility-oriented philosophy, and long-term strategy. transformation.
After 22 years of hard work, Kia is firmly "in China, for China"
As the world's largest single automobile market, China is a "position" that is difficult for any automobile company to leave.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2023, the production and sales volume of China's automobile market will exceed 30 million vehicles, reaching 30.161 million vehicles and 30.094 million vehicles respectively, a year-on-year increase of 11.6% and 12% respectively. Both annual production and sales hit record highs. . In the field of new energy vehicles, China's new energy vehicle production and sales in 2023 will also reach 9.587 million and 9.495 million vehicles, respectively, a year-on-year increase of 35.8% and 37.9%, with a market share of 31.6%.
There is no doubt that Chinese automobiles have become one of the "highlands" for the development of new energy automobiles. How to grasp the east wind of China's new energy automobile market and organically combine it will become the key to taking the lead in the competition in the new era of automobiles. The essential. As Kia, which has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for 22 years, its importance is also self-evident.
In fact, in the past two years, Kia Global CEO Song Husheng has visited China many times to investigate the market and emphasized that "continuous innovation and development of the Chinese automobile market and ensuring success in the Chinese market are the core of Kia's global strategy." It is not difficult for us to see that Kia The attitude of continuing to deeply explore the Chinese market and the determination to implement the "in China, for China" strategy.
Data shows that in 2023, Yueda Kia's cumulative domestic and overseas sales were 166,395 units, a year-on-year increase of 31.2%, showing a steady and positive growth trend. Among them, cumulative export sales were 86,062 complete vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 125%, ranking among the top joint venture brands. In the first quarter of 2024, Kia achieved a "good start", with cumulative sales of 50,038 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 76.9%. Among them, domestic sales were 19,654 units, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%, and export sales were 30,384 units, a year-on-year increase of 190.5%.
By actively promoting overseas export business, Kia's Yancheng factory has become a global export base and part of Kia's global strategic layout. At the same time, this is also an important measure for Yueda Kia to actively integrate into the dual cycle. It not only further improves production capacity, but also creates a new development situation of "domestic sales and export sales go hand in hand".
Kia has also expressed considerable attention to the booming development of China's new energy vehicle market. Kia China stated that it will launch a number of pure electric vehicles in the future and achieve the annual sales target of 180,000 EV models by 2030, with EV sales accounting for 40%. In the future, Kia will use the Chinese market as its cornerstone, continue to be guided by Chinese consumer demand, and provide products with greater potential and competitiveness.
From a market perspective, in the 22 years since it entered China, Kia has accumulated more than 6.2 million user assets in China, generated revenue of more than 620 billion yuan, and paid about 52 billion yuan in taxes. It has made outstanding contributions to the development of the economy and automobile industry in Yancheng and even China. . But in fact, the leading role Kia has played in China for 22 years is not only at the market level, not only in the automobile industry, or even not only in the high-quality development of the regional economy. If we look further, we can find that this global car company "in China, for China" has always adhered to "responsibility first" in China, continuously practiced corporate social responsibility with its own efforts, and contributed to the development of the Chinese automobile market. Sustainability contribution comes from Kia’s drive.
"Responsibility comes first", Kia practices social responsibility
"If you are poor, you can be good for yourself; if you are prosperous, you can help the world." This is the evaluation of a "true gentleman" in traditional Chinese business society. It is also the expectation of most Chinese people for a responsible company. Kia is precisely such a "true gentleman" company that upholds a high degree of social responsibility. Whether it is the "Kia Home" public welfare project that started in 2009, or the green production concept established since the opening of Yueda Kia's Yancheng production base, it can be said that since entering China, Yueda Kia has been continuously taking practical actions to Practice your own sustainable development path.
At the public welfare level, as early as the "barbaric era" when domestic companies generally focused on the market and ignored social responsibilities, Kia has actively devoted itself to the public welfare field, developed "secondary businesses" outside the automotive industry, and continued to innovate. and extend the forms and areas of participation in public welfare.
By focusing on how to get more people involved in public welfare and turning public welfare into a part of life, Kia's public welfare projects have moved beyond the 1.0 era of "teaching people to fish" and the 2.0 era of "teaching people to fish" and have entered the It has ushered in the 3.0 era of innovative public welfare and achieved diversified public welfare innovation effects that are precise and tailored to local conditions. Currently, the public welfare categories created and participated by Kia have covered many fields such as environmental protection, education, and society. It has built a public welfare system including Kia Home, Hope Primary School, school-enterprise cooperation and other projects, with a cumulative capital investment of more than 110 million yuan. .
Taking "Kia Homes" as an example, since the launch of the project in 2009, Kia has always paid attention to housing assistance activities for rural needy groups, and has successively launched activities in Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Shaanxi and other provinces, assisting in the construction of super homes. 166 houses, with a cumulative investment of more than 56 million yuan. It has been selected as one of the "Top 50 National Charity Projects" by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for many consecutive years, and was awarded the "Most Influential Charity Project" by the Jiangsu Provincial Government in 2018.
For Kia, organizing charity activities is not only a sentiment, but also a mission given by the times. On this road, Kia has already blazed its own path, allowing more and more people to begin to feel it from different levels. To the warmth from Kia. In fact, what innovative public welfare represents is only part of Yueda Kia's path to sustainable development. In the new era that emphasizes the concept of ESG [the abbreviation of Environmental, Social and Governance], Kia The efforts made cover all aspects.
For example, in terms of protecting the rights and interests of employees, Kia has always adhered to the people-oriented concept and always paid attention to protecting the reasonable rights and interests of employees. In 2022 alone, Yueda Kia invested a total of nearly 960,000 yuan in employee training, with nearly 75,000 training participants, 20,000 safety and health trainings, 26 million yuan in safety measures, and 24.71 million yuan in safety production. There were 2,894 caring activities, with a total number of participants of 61,000.
Paying attention to people is precisely one of the key points in the ESG era that emphasizes sustainable development. This insistence on sustainable development and "responsibility" has also been recognized by the industry. In 2023, Yueda Kia ranked fourth in the automotive industry and first among joint venture car companies in the 2023 Corporate Social Responsibility Development Index released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and won the "Social Responsibility Running Bull Award-Responsible Management" prize". At the 2023 China Automobile Sustainability Conference, Yueda Kia was successfully selected as one of the top ten ESG brands in the Chinese auto industry in 2023 and the Top 20 ESG Pioneer Index due to its excellent ESG performance, and ranked second among joint venture car companies.
Over the past 22 years, Kia has always adhered to the concept and principle of "responsibility first" in China, and has been continuously practicing corporate social responsibility, contributing to the construction of a harmonious and beautiful social environment and the sustainable development of the Chinese automobile market. Kia, which is ideal, innovative and responsible, is constantly creating a new future of travel and creating a unique new era of travel for all consumers.
The key is to achieve strong acceleration in intelligent and electric transformation through multiple strategies.
With multiple strategies in place, Kia’s smart electric transformation is accelerating
In the face of the strong development of the new energy market in the world, especially in China, Kia has never relaxed its pursuit of new technologies, new energy and the new four modernizations of automobiles. Although compared with the booming new energy market in China, Kia's previous performance in China The movement is slightly slower. However, as a long-term global car company, Kia is taking multiple measures to implement its new energy vehicle strategy step by step and carry out all-round upgrades in all aspects.
The first is products. In the face of the explosive growth of China's new energy vehicle market, Kia has keenly captured the market trends, released China's new energy strategy, opened the first year of electrification, and launched two new blockbuster pure electric vehicles, EV6 and EV5. Among them, as the first electric model under Kia China’s electrification transformation strategy, Kia EV6 has been launched at the 2023 Chengdu Auto Show. EV6 is the first electric model based on Kia's dedicated E-GMP platform for electric vehicles. With its excellent quality and commerciality, it has successively won "2022 European Car of the Year", "2023 North American Car of the Year", "2023 World Performance Car", etc. The international award is widely praised around the world, demonstrating Kia's world-leading electrification technology strength and further deepening the brand imprint of "Technical Kia".
In response to the characteristics of China's new energy vehicle market and for consumers who explore new lives and pay attention to quality life, Kia EV5 is the core model of Kia's electrification transformation and a model specially launched by Kia to celebrate its 80th anniversary. The first global model to be launched in China is of great significance. Kia EV5 has conducted sufficient research on Chinese users from the beginning of its research and development in order to better meet the needs of Chinese users. Since its launch at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show, it has been deeply loved by Chinese consumers due to its pure exterior design, flexible and practical changeable space, maternal and infant-level environmentally friendly smart cockpit, and efficient three-electric system.
At the technical level, Kia is also actively exploring a new future of intelligence, electrification and sustainability. Take Kia's most important E-GMP platform in the era of electrification transformation as an example. This platform not only has the basic attributes of modularity and standardization to improve R&D efficiency, but its pure electric exclusive platform has short front overhangs and long wheelbase. The architectural setting allows it to achieve flexible arrangements of vehicle width, wheelbase, front and rear overhangs, etc. It can not only accommodate high-capacity density lithium battery packs, but also achieve flexible space and vehicle model layout.
More importantly, the E-GMP platform can realize 400V/800V dual-standard fast charging and support two fast-charging specifications without the need for additional adapters to meet the charging needs of all fast-charging infrastructures. . Its fast charging power can be supported from 25kW, 150kW, all the way up to 350kW, which can increase the battery life by 100km in 5 minutes and charge to 80% in 18 minutes. Coupled with excellent passive safety, efficient heat pump system, and BMS pre-diagnosis function, it can achieve both high performance and high safety.
In terms of localization of technology and products, Kia currently has the "iron triangle" development power of the China Technology Research Institute, China Forward-looking Digital R&D Center, and Guizhou Big Data Center in China. In the future, it will actively cater to China based on Kia's dedicated electric vehicle platform. Market characteristics and user needs, focusing on the four major technical directions of mobility, electrification, Internet technology and autonomous driving, to create technologies and products that better meet the needs of Chinese users.
Not only products and technologies, Kia’s new energy strategy in China covers all aspects. For example, Kia is comprehensively innovating user experience in business areas such as charging network, channel system and brand services. So far, Kia has teamed up with Shell to build ultra-fast charging piles in key cities across the country, and has expanded the basic charging network layout by cooperating with electric vehicle charging service companies such as Nenglian Smart Electric and laying charging piles at dealer outlets to bring users Come to efficient and convenient charging services. In addition, Kia has also joined forces with major dealer groups such as Sime Darby to expand channel network construction and orderly promote the SI 2.0 upgrade of dealer showrooms to build a more complete sales and service system. The Kia APP has also been launched, optimizing and upgrading the user experience in all areas of car life and realizing the digital transformation of user services.
Whether it is products, technology, brand or user services, it is not difficult to find that Kia is implementing its "2030 strategy" through in-depth changes in all dimensions, practicing its own smart electric transformation path, and is pragmatic and determined It will accelerate its transformation from an automobile company to a world-leading "sustainable mobility solution provider". Looking forward to the future, Kia, a global automobile brand that relies on technology and puts responsibility first, will continue to transform amidst challenges and contribute Kia's unique uniqueness in an intelligent, electrified and sustainable future. Power, write a glorious chapter belonging to Kia.