Emilio Herrera, president of Kia in Spain, believes that it is necessary to establish tax incentives, as is the case in Portugal, to start selling electrified cars in Spain, since our country is at the stage of registration of this type. is a vehicle of the order of 10%, when the European average is double. Plus, naturally, augmenting existing charging infrastructure.
In a recent meeting with reporters, the director of the Korean brand lamented the harassment currently being faced by combustion engine vehicles. And he gave as an example measures such as setting up of low emission zones (ZBEs), which create even more doubts for buyers. This situation puts a noose around the neck of manufacturers who do not want to produce combustion cars, but the reality is that the many factories that exist throughout Europe must be put to work.
In his opinion, the motor industry is currently facing the greatest challenge in its history, as it faces significant production constraints not only due to shortages of semiconductors, but also from supply difficulties presented by some suppliers of parts, which logically affecting from work in factories.
premium technology
Emilio Herrera defined Kia as “a generic brand with premium technology” and with good profitability that allows us to have an R&D center to advance in cutting-edge technologies. He announced the launch of 14 new electric models by 2027. And according to their calculations, the Korean brand will have sold four million electric cars by the year 2030, the year it is believed that half of Kia’s sales will be electrified cars.
During the last year, Kia sold a total of 542,423 cars worldwide, which represents a decrease of 4.1% compared to the 655,000 units sold in 2021. For this brand, Europe is the second market in the world after the United States. As far as Spain is concerned, the internal market in general is still at a level 35% lower than before the pandemic and the year started with a decline in the rate of new car orders. Something that hasn’t been reflected in January registrations as deliveries of cars in the first month of the year are in line with orders placed in December.
The trend is that the weighting of assets is going down to give priority to use. Thus we see that the burden of leasing in total operations will continue to increase. A common outcome because in uncertain times such as we are experiencing, customers buy peace of mind and operate all inclusive. Regarding carsharing, it doesn’t seem to be a profitable business for now. Kia is preparing to launch its new EV9 model with near-immediate plans, which will reach the Spanish market within this year. A fully electric car developed specifically for autonomous driving. But Herrera lamented that the legislation in this regard has not caught up with the industry and lags far behind the research and development work done by manufacturers.
