Kia stands by Niro pricing

KIA Australia’s most affordable electric car now arguably seems like one of the most overpriced EVs on the market, but the brand has stood up for its Niro model range, claiming it’s ‘doing its job’.

The Niro small SUV is offered with a hybrid powertrain across two grades, both of which are relatively highly priced in their competitor set - the S grade is $44,380 plus on-road costs, the GT-Line is $50,030 plus ORC.

But it’s the electric version of the Niro that seemingly asks a lot of the wallets of buyers, with list pricing (plus ORC) set at $65,300 for the S and $72,100 for the GT-Line.

Considering it is a small SUV and therefore in the same segment as the MG ZS EV (from $44,990 drive-away), upcoming MG 4 EV (from $44,990 plus on-roads), BYD Atto 3 (from $48,011 plus on-roads), the Niro - which measures physically slightly larger than the others - is still contextually expensive.

However, newly appointed Kia Australia CEO, Damien Meredith, said the brand is happy with the positioning of the Niro despite more pressure from competitor brands offering cut-price electric vehicles in the same segment.

“It’s the little EV that keeps on giving,” said Mr Meredith.

“Pricing is a really interesting concept in regards to EVs. It’s really, really interesting. I think there’s a lot of early adopters still out there. There’s a big pool of early adopters who are buying what they can,” he said of the MG and BYD buyers, specifically.

“We’re pretty fortunate that we’ve worked hard on the brand, so that attracts a certain type of buyer. So we’re doing alright with its pricing strategy,” Mr Meredith asserted, suggesting that the Niro plays an important role as a reputation and brand building offering in the market.

Kia Australia says the split between the Niro hybrid and EV models is pretty even, and the sales figures show exactly that. By the end of May 2023, both types had seen 294 sales, for a total of 588. Those figures are specific to the new-generation Niro, not the purpose-built Niro Plus variant.

“The cost of putting those things together is not getting any cheaper, nor are the things that are dug out of the ground to power them. So, we’re doing alright with our pricing strategy with Niro at this point in time,” said Mr Meredith. “We don’t expect to be taking on MG, or the likes of that. Where we’ve positioned it, it’s doing its job for us. And - from a fleet point of view it’s doing exceptionally well.”

Kia Australia general manager of product planning and training, Roland Rivero, said there’s also the supply factor at play when it comes to the Niro in particular.

“It’s relative to supply as well. The Niro does extremely well in Europe, and the lion’s share goes there. We don’t get as much as that market,” he said.

To the end of May 2023, electric vehicles had accounted for 32,050 sales year-to-date (accounting for more than seven per cent of total vehicle sales, compared to 1.9 per cent for the same period last year).

Hybrid vehicle sales so far this year are trailing EVs, with 29,293 examples sold to the end of May 2023, though that doesn’t include plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs), accounting for 2797 sales.