An additional 115 Kia EV6 electric cars will be made available to buyers in the queue this year – but for new orders, long wait times of up to two years remain.
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Australia will be allocated close to 25 per cent more 2022 Kia EV6 electric cars for the rest of this year – but wait times look unlikely to improve from their current two-year mark.
As foreshadowed in June, Kia Australia’s initial allocation of 500 EV6s for 2022 will be increased to 615 cars, after successfully persuading head office in South Korea.
However, the increased allocation is unlikely to have a significant effect on wait times, with Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith telling Australian media last month the customer queue – at current production rates – still stretches at least two years.
“We had 500 [cars allocated to Australia at launch], we now have an extra 100 to bring us to 600 for this year, a 20 per cent increase,” Meredith said. “The waiting time based on current output? Probably about two years.”
The Kia Australia executive said at the time the company “could sell about 3000 [EV6s] annually, based on current demand,” if there was unlimited supply.
“We would like to be able to deliver more cars more quickly and we appreciate the high level of interest in this car,” said Mr Meredith.
“We ask our customers to please be patient, place an order, and get in the queue – because then we can go to the factory and demonstrate how many orders we have.”
The expanded allocation does not include the upcoming, high-performance GT variant, due in showrooms before year’s end. It will have its own allocation – though Kia Australia has not confirmed how many examples will be available.
The increased allotment of Kia EV6 electric cars mirrors its twin under the skin, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, shipments of which are slated to increase over the coming months.
Unlike Kia Australia and its lengthy waiting list at dealerships, Hyundai Australia has elected to sell the Ioniq 5 at fixed prices online, to better control stock allocation.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is released in batches (dubbed “drops”) of about 100 cars every one to two months, ready for delivery within weeks of ordering.
With the latest August 10 release included, Hyundai Australia has made 818 examples of the Ioniq 5 available to buyers over the past 12 months – 322 of which have been offered in the past three months.
Since deliveries began early in 2022, Kia Australia has reported 346 examples of the EV6s as sold.
While Hyundai has reported 518 Ioniq 5s as sold over a similar period of time (coincidentally reporting 346 as sold in 2022).
It’s worth noting these totals are believed to include both customer vehicles, as well as those on each manufacturer’s fleet for media evaluation and promotional events (including by Kia at the Australian Open tennis event in January).
Prices were recently increased by $4600 across the Kia EV6 range – for new customers, and those already with an order. The range now starts from $72,590 plus on-road costs.
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