Kia Australia to add more hybrids with lower prices, greater supply in 2025

12/19/2024 01:00 PM

Kia is set to multiply its range of hybrid car and SUV variants in Australia next year, amid a boom in demand for petrol-electric vehicles that has coincided with a cooling in battery-electric vehicle sales.

Four hybrid models are offered by Kia in Australia – the Niro, Sportage, Sorento and Carnival – but two of the four are limited to flagship GT-Line grades only, and are hamstrung by limited stock.

Kia is on track to report close to 6000 new hybrids as sold in 2024 – compared to nearly 14,000 for Hyundai, and more than 120,000 across Toyota’s much broader hybrid model range.

But the tables are set to turn from next year, company executives have announced.

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“Our projection is around 10,000-plus [hybrid sales], with the support of the factory,” Kia Australia chief operating officer Dennis Piccoli told a local media briefing.

“We’ll expand the [hybrid] range of the Sorento, Carnival and Sportage – we’ve gone to the GT-Line [only] essentially up until now. As the availability improves, so will the variants.”

Piccoli said the range expansion will cover ‘plug-less’ hybrid variants of the Sorento, Carnival and Sportage, as well as the slower-selling Sorento plug-in hybrid.

The Sorento and Carnival are currently sold only in GT-Line forms – with prices beyond about $75,000 and $80,000 drive-away respectively – compared to about $55,000 drive-away for the cheapest petrol versions.

It compares to Hyundai’s petrol-electric seven-seat SUV – the Santa Fe Hybrid – which is offered in a mix of variants priced from about $60,000 to $85,000 drive-away.

Meanwhile, the Sportage Hybrid is available in SX and GT-Line grades, but Kia may use the model’s mid-life update due in April as the time to add hybrid power to the other two variants, the base-model S and high-grade SX+.

However, the Niro small SUV will be overlooked in the hybrid range expansion.

The current model is offered in S and GT-Line hybrid grades – alongside similar S and GT-Line electric variants – but the cheapest Niro hybrid costs only $950 less than the most affordable Sportage Hybrid, a larger, more powerful and better-equipped vehicle.

The electric Niro has also received competition from within, undercut by the larger EV5 electric SUV – and set to be joined by a new EV3 model that will be sized similarly to, but substantially cheaper than the Niro.

Kia Australia says there is still “life left” in the Niro, but it will evaluate what to do with it in the longer term next year once the EV3 and expanded hybrid range arrive.

“Niro’s been very important, let’s not undermine what Niro’s done,” Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told media.

“Niro has prepared Kia Australia [and] our dealer network for electrification, and right now it’s still doing that job – we’ve still got an EV Niro and a hybrid Niro doing the job.

“There’s still demand in there from fleet, so you may have your opinions on its respective position and price point, but the market hasn’t exactly said let’s [discontinue it].

“The market ultimately dictates the longevity of the product. But right now we’ve still got Niros that are demanded by respective customers that don’t necessarily want a car as big as a medium SUV.

“So until all those other variables come into place, and affects the decision of the market, then we’ll look at it. But for now, there’s still life in Niro yet.”

2025 Kia hybrid price list

• Niro Hybrid S – $45,000
• Niro Hybrid GT-Line – $50,650
• Sportage SX Hybrid – $45,950
• Sportage GT-Line Hybrid – $55,420
• Sorento GT-Line Hybrid FWD – $70,330
• Sorento GT-Line Hybrid AWD – $73,330
• Carnival GT-Line Hybrid – $76,210

Note: All prices above exclude on-road costs.

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