- Kia confirmed a North American-bound electric pickup is coming.
- The automaker wants to sell 90,000 units per year, more than double F-150 Lightning sales
- This suggests the new EV will be smaller and cheaper than Ford’s offering.
Kia is developing an all-new electric pickup specifically for North America, the Korean automaker confirmed during its CEO Investor Day Event today. The still-unnamed EV will be based on a new EV platform “designed for both urban and outdoor use.”
Details are still scarce, but the automaker emphasized that its new utilitarian EV will feature best-in-class interior and cargo space, as well as a “robust towing system,” advanced infotainment features and some off-road chops.
Kia didn’t say how big its new electric American pickup would be, but it mentioned an annual sales target of 90,000 units and a market share of 7%. This means the work EV will probably be smaller than the likes of the Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck, which are considered full-size trucks. Together, the Lightning and Cybertruck sold fewer than 73,000 units last year.
It could end up being an EV9-sized pickup, just like the weird mule that was spotted testing in the United States last year. That prototype was roughly the size of an EV9—it even had EV9 headlights, although the taillights were lifted straight from the Santa Cruz.
To be clear, this electric pickup is different from the combustion-powered Tasman and the PV5 commercial EV. The former is not coming to the U.S., while the fate of the latter is currently under a huge question mark amid the tariff turmoil.
Kia didn’t say where the North American-bound electric pickup would be manufactured. Logic dictates that either the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia or the Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG) facility would be responsible for building the new EV. However, that has not been confirmed by Kia.
The automaker said that Korea will serve as its global hub for EV development and production, while North America will focus on mid-to-large SUVs and Europe will handle compact SUVs and hatchbacks. If the new electric pickup is similar to the EV9, it would be easiest for Kia to build it at its KMMG plant as both models could theoretically share the same assembly line.
Kia didn’t specify a launch date for the North American-bound battery-powered pickup, but reading between the lines, it’s easy to speculate the EV will debut before the end of the decade. That’s because the pickup is part of Kia’s updated Plan S strategy which outlines the company’s mid-to-long-term business plan until 2030.
Speaking of the end of the decade, the Korean automaker wants to sell a total of 4.19 million vehicles globally by 2030, with 1.26 million being all-electric models. To meet the demand, Kia plans to increase its global production capacity by 17% from 3.63 million units this year to 4.25 million units by 2030.
