Kia will become the third-largest PV seller by 2030: Report

 Kia Motors will become the third-largest Passenger Vehicle (PV) seller by 2030, behind Suzuki Group and sister brand Hyundai. MG Motors, meanwhile, should rank 10th in India’s PV market within that time frame, as predicted by a LMC Automotive report.

The report said that looking ahead, Kia’s overall volume in India is forecast to rise from 128,000 units this year to 357,000 units by 2030.

According to Ammar Master, Senior Manager, Asia-Pacific Vehicle Forecasts, LMC Automotive, “The Sonet is set to add 100-140,000 units to Kia’s annual volume in India over the longer term. And we anticipate the addition of a mainstream B-segment MPV next year, followed by two sub-compact cars by 2024.”

Kia’s second model Carnival, that arrived in February 2020 is unlikely to clock very high sales, being at an estimated 4-6,000 units per year in the long term,” Ammar Master added.

Additionally, the vehicle forecast firm believes that MG Motors will, no doubt, be adding more models to its Indian product line over the next few years, taking its annual volume from an estimated 16,000 units in 2020 to 72,000 by 2030.

Kia Motors began its Indian journey with the attractively priced Seltos sub-compact SUV last August. By the end of October, wholesales of the model had neared 27,000 units, allowing it to break into the top-ten SUV chart. Further, with sales of 45,000 units in the first half of this year, the Seltos is currently the top-ranked SUV in the market, ahead of the Hyundai Venue (29,000 units) and the once venerable and erstwhile market leader, the Maruti-Suzuki Vitara Brezza (28,000 units).

Meanwhile, SAIC-owned MG Motors made its market entry in July 2019 with the Hector Compact SUV, which was the 10th best selling SUV in the first six months of 2020. Following in its footsteps this year were the MG ZS EV in February and the Hector Plus (the 3-row 6-seat version of the Hector) in July, while the Gloster Midsize SUV is due out imminently.