Having pulled ahead of Hyundai for the first five months of 2024, in the end, Kia wasn’t able to beat its owner in the Korean market for the full year. Yet it did cause one upset, the Sorento becoming the country’s best seller, followed by the Carnival with the most successful Hyundai (Santa Fe) only able to reach third place, followed by the Sportage. Taking three of the top four places is very impressive, while the Sorento was the first Kia to become the most popular vehicle in a calendar year.
The brand also did very well in all other big markets but the PRC remains an exception, fewer than 60,000 locally-built models being sold there last year. As with Hyundai, it seems highly unlikely that the brand will be withdrawn from China, a turnaround being hoped for via new models honed to the specific preferences of Chinese customers.
Go deeper with GlobalData
This report pulls back the curtain to reveal some of what Kia Corporation is believed to be working on for the remainder of the 2020s and into the middle of the following decade. Could certain of these even propel the supposed junior brand past Hyundai by the 2030s? It’s certainly possible.
Cars
A relatively big seller in Europe and a more modest performer in South Korea, where it is manufactured, the present generation Picanto/Morning has been around since 2017. Unusually, Kia has facelifted it twice, extending the life cycle until 2027. The little five-door hatchback could be replaced by an EV.
Older still and at 3.6 mm long, about the same size, is the Ray, another small hatchback. This one also comes in electric form. It and the Morning/Picanto successors will share the same platform.
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By GlobalDataLaunched in 2018 and facelifted three years later, the Ceed should have been replaced by now. The fact that it hasn’t been likely means Kia could facelift it for a second time, delaying any possible successor until 2028. Should that be the case, this gives the company a few more years to remain in the European C segment with an IC-powered range of cars. The eventual replacement series would be mainly electric but thermal power could also be available should there be sufficient demand.
K-models and EVs
Certain other cars in the worldwide Kia line-up instead have the letter K and a number, examples including the K3, K4, K5, K8 and K9. The last of those is up for replacement in 2026, while the first debuted in 2023 and is manufactured in Mexico as the Rio’s successor. Its lifecycle should include a refresh for the 2027 model year and a replacement in CY2030. This sedan’s codename is BL7.
The K4 is another important car for the brand in The Americas, the latest model having been revealed in March 2024, making its public debut a few days later at the New York auto show. A replacement for that region’s Cerato/Forte, there are both sedan and hatchback bodies. Build is in the same Mexican plant as the K3 and its successor is expected in 2031.
Around the same sort of size but instead having a motor rather than an engine should be the future EV4 (code: SV1). This fastback sedan and hatchback series will be built in both Slovakia and alongside the EV3, an electric SUV, at Autoland Gwangju Plant 2 in South Korea’s Gyeonggi province. Production is due to start in March, which means the model should be revealed soon. Expect a six- to seven-year build period.
Crossovers and SUVs
Designed especially for India, where the brand sold more than a quarter of a million passenger vehicles in 2024, the Syros is an imminent additional SUV. To be launched on 1 February, this tiny model is almost identical in size to the existing 3,995 mm long Sonet but 10 mm wider and 55 mm taller. Buyers may choose from 1.0-litre petrol or 1.5-litre diesel engines with an electric option said to be coming (code: AY-EV). The platform is HMG’s K1 while drive is to the front axle only.
Two other models with a strong Indian market emphasis are the Sonet and Creta. Facelifted a year ago this month, that means the replacements for these SUVs should be launched there in the first half of 2027. There is also a new Creta EV and it too will have a successor around the same time.
Set to be introduced in September after an August production start-up at Autoland Gwangju, the next Seltos range (code: SP3) will also include the option of hybrid drive. Kia will also build this model in India.
EV2, EV3…
At the moment there is no electric Kia crossover smaller than the new EV3 but what should be called EV2 is coming for Europe at least, in 2026. To be built in Slovakia, this B segment model should then be joined by a GT derivative in 2027 with battery choices said to be between 42 kWh LFP and 62 kWh NCM alternatives.
The EV3 itself was revealed in May last year but it won’t reach certain markets for some time, the USA being one such. In this case, the reason is the ongoing development of a special model (code: SVm) for North America. This is due to be in production at Kia’s Monterrey plant in Mexico from the fourth quarter of this year.
Korean build of the EV3 has been underway since 2024, the factory in question being the renamed and retooled-for-EVs Autoland Gyeonggi No.2. It should add a GT later this year, company insiders hinting at combined power of 450 kW thanks to dual motors, plus an 81.4 kWh battery.
…EV5, EV6 and…
Of the other present electric crossovers or SUVs, the EV5 was initially a China-only model. Now however, it is exported and there is build in South Korea too. A facelifted model should arrive in 2026 and a successor in 2030.
Only around 10 mm longer than the EV5, the EV6 is nonetheless differentiated from its smaller brother by being more of a hatchback-crossover than a conventional SUV. Its mid-life refresh came in 2024 so the successor should arrive in 2027 and again offer RWD and AWD variants.
The largest electric Kia SUV is the EV9. Originally built only in Korea, since May 2024 it has also been produced at the West Point factory in Georgia. However, production remains fairly modest for now but there are plans to raise output later in 2025 after US-made batteries become available. The GT, which debuted at the LA auto show last November, will also become available (worldwide) from later in Q1. Facelifts and updated battery options should appear in 2026 with the second generation model expected in 2030/2031.
MQ4i project
Even though Kia remains heavily committed to expanding its crossover and SUV line-up with the EV-plus-number models, combustion models still have a big role to play for many years yet. The most successful of all is the Sportage, recently facelifted, at least in long-wheelbase form. An equivalent mid-life refresh for the standard-length model should be announced soon. The next generation is due in 2027/2028.
Kia doesn’t sell the Sorento in the Indian market but it reportedly has plans to localise a fresh model based on today’s generation of the three-row SUV. The code is said to be MQ4i and a hybrid powertrain may be standard. As for the launch timing, this is believed to be 2026 or 2027. Anantapur, the plant which presently produces the Sonet, Seltos and Syros, will be the manufacturing base.
The next Sorento
The debut of MQ4i is especially interesting, as the rest of the world should see the next generation Sorento arriving at around the same time. Therefore, the models will likely closely resemble one another with Kia possibly planning to use the Andhra Pradesh factory as a hub for exports.
One more large thermal-power Kia SUV is the Telluride. LQ2, its replacement, should be revealed in 2026 with build in both Korea and the USA. A 2.5-litre hybrid powertrain will be offered.
Pick-up
Its looks aren’t too everyone’s tastes but so far at least, that hasn’t stopped the Tasman from causing a bit of a stir. Aimed at markets in Africa, Australasia and the Middle East, this ladder-frame pick-up had its official public premiere at the Jeddah motor show not quite three months ago. Series production of TK1 (internal code) is due to start at Kia’s Autoland Hwaseong plant in February.
Along with diesel and petrol engines, a Tasman EV is due to be added in 2026 and, probably, a hybrid. The life cycle might be long, stretching to the mid-2030s with the combustion powerplants dropped in the early 2030s.
MPVs
More an MPV-SUV mash-up than a classic MPV, the Carens is built in India and assembled in Bangladesh and Vietnam. Later this year, the 4.5 m long model will be facelifted and the option of electric power will be added to the line-up. The replacement is due in 2028.
Up for replacement in 2027, the Carnival remains Kia’s only big MPV/minivan. As such it provides a profitable presence in the group’s worldwide segments strategy, complementing the Hyundai Staria. The next generation should arrive in 2026 or 2027 and be based on Hyundai Motor Group’s N4 platform. And while a 1.6-litre hybrid powertrain is available for the current model, this should be replaced by a range extender alternative.
