Opinion: Kia’s taking pride in its EVs

• Kia showcases new breed of electric vehicles
• New cars and vans coming to the UK
• Our expert Steve Fowler was there at the launch
• Kia is now a major player on the global EV stage

Remember the Kia Pride? Or the Kia Magentis? They were some of the first of the Korean brand’s offerings over thirty years ago that were, frankly, entirely forgettable.

How things have changed. I’m just back from Kia EV Day 2025 (yes, this wasn’t the first!) where the company rolled out its latest concept, its latest production car and - wait for it - its first van. And as the name of the day might suggest, they’re all EVs.

Back in 1995, you’d hardly have had the A-list of the world’s media attend a Kia event - nor would Kia hold it in a converted bull ring in Tarragona, south of Barcelona.

Now Kia is a major player on the global stage, with the Kia EV9 the current World Car of the Year and the new EV3 a strong contender for this year’s crown.

At Kia EV day, the EV4 mid-size hatch and saloon were revealed along with a small concept EV2 (below), which is pretty much the same as next year’s production car apart from the fancy doors and wacky interior.

We’ve got the EV5 SUV coming later this year, too, while the EV6 has just been revamped.

Talking about his brand’s ’unwavering commitment to EVs’ President and CEO Ho Sung Song revealed that Kia is working on a baby EV1 as quickly as possible, while design chief Karim Habib also let slip that designs for an EV7 and an EV8 are underway, too.

And such is Kia’s swagger these days that it thinks it can take on the mighty Ford Transit Custom - Britain’s third best-selling vehicle (behind the Ford Puma and the Kia Sportage).

In total, Kia sold over 112,000 cars in the UK last year, making it our fourth favourite car brand in 2024, one place ahead of… Ford. The UK is also Kia’s fourth biggest market globally.

The Kia PV5 van (above) looks like a winner, too, and comes with Kia’s trademark, confidence-inspiring seven-year warranty. And it’ll be sold through Kia’s established network of dealers.

Can Kia do no wrong? The internal rivalry between it and parent company Hyundai is fierce, but Kia itself seems to be splitting its range into mainstream and posh - getting dangerously close to fellow sibling and wannabe premium brand Genesis.

The plan, EV-wise, seems to be for EVs 1, 2, 3, 4 (below) and 5 to be mainstream models, while 6, 7, 8 and 9 are a bit posher with more advanced tech. It’s exciting times for Kia.

But when you’re up on a pedestal, there are plenty trying to knock you off, and a host of Chinese brands are eyeing what Kia has done and fancy following suit.

Judging by the first of the Chinese models I’ve tried, they’re playing the same value card that Kia did all those years ago, while the cars are much closer to the established models than the Kia Pride and Magentis were back in the day.

Let battle commence – and we as car buyers can only sit back and reap the benefits.

** Steve Fowler is one of the UK’s best-known automotive journalists and currently EV Editor of The Independent and a regular contributor to The Guardian. He’s the only person to have edited three of the UK’s biggest car titles – Auto Express, Autocar and What Car? – and has interviewed the biggest names in the car world from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Ford’s Jim Farley. Steve has also presented documentaries for BBC Radio Four and is used as a resident ‘car guru’ on TV and Radio. He’s a World Car of the Year juror and a judge on both Germany’s and India’s Car of the Year Awards. Read more of Steve's work at stevefowler.co.uk.

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