Kia Philippines Motor Corp. expects sales to hit 7,000 units in 2023, about 12 to 13 percent higher than its 2022 sales with the entry of its fully electrified vehicle into the Philippine market.
Kia Philippines newly-appointed chief operations officer Brian Buendia said the Korean car brand aims to increase its market share to 1.6 percent from 1.4 percent last year.
“We expect this much if the third and fourth quarter supply will be coming in as planned. We hope to grow faster than the industry and with 9 percent growth in May we are trying to catch up with industry growth of 13 percent. That is good enough for us because we experienced some hiccups in supply,” he said.
He said orders for the EV6, its first fully electric vehicle offering in the Philippines, launched in March 2023, has been delayed due to supply concerns.
The first batch of orders placed in the second quarter is due to arrive by next week.
Buendia said competition for the unit is rising in the region and the increasing demand from the mother country is also putting pressure on supply.
Kia Philippines expects to sell about 100 units of the EV6 in 2023.
Kia Philippines’ best selling unit, the Stonic, will continue to drive sales in 2023 and the introduction of a new SUV by September is also expected to help buff up sales. Kia Stonic make up almost half of Kia Philippines’ sales at 49 percent. It is followed by the Soluto and K2500.
