Automotive News Europe - September 2019 - 12

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

Q&A

QA Double challenge
Kia Europe COO aims to avoid sales dip despite bold electrification push

milio Herrera, who has been chief
operating officer of Kia Europe for
15 months, is keeping Kia on a growth
path despite a steady decline in the region's overall vehicle sales. According to
industry association ACEA, Kia's European deliveries rose 1.6 percent in the first
half to 268,305 despite the market's
3.1 percent dip. Maintaining this pace
is about to get tougher as Kia implements an ambitious plan to electrify its
lineup at a time when many customers
remain reluctant to switch to hybrids or
full-electric models. Herrera shared his
strategy with Automotive News Europe
Correspondent Andrea Malan.
Can you give us the current timetable
of the Ceed range electrification?
Production of the XCeed [coupe-styled
crossover] and Ceed station wagon plugin hybrids will start in late November at
our Zilina plant [in Slovakia]. Both models will hit the market in January 2020.
Also in November a mild-hybrid version
of the Ceed hatchback will start. Gradually, each Ceed variant will get some
form of electrification. We are also considering a full-electric version.
What other vehicles will be part of
the electrification campaign?
Next year the new Sorrento will feature
the current diesel engine plus hybrid and
plug-in hybrid versions. The Imagine by Kia
concept we unveiled at this year's Geneva
show will be the base of a BEV [batteryelectric vehicle] we will launch in 2021.
Do you need all of these electrified
vehicles to comply with tougher EU
CO2 emissions rules that take full effect in 2021?
They will be crucial. Without BEVs and
plug-in hybrids it would be almost impossible to make the targets. We have
to secure as many EVs for Europe as
possible to be able to increase our overall sales in Europe or at least to maintain the volume. Otherwise, we will have
to reduce the volume, like some other
brands, but this is something we don't
want to do. We don't want to pay fines,
either. Unfortunately, our task gets more

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complicated every day, given the rise in
SUV sales and fall in diesel sales.
Will every Ceed variant offer plug-in
hybrid and mild-hybrid versions?
No. For the time being, only the XCeed
and Ceed wagon will get the plug-in hybrid. The Ceed hatchback will get the
mild hybrid, which we will probably extend to the full range later.
What would convince you to extend
mild hybrids to the whole range?
If we see we need lower CO2, we might
introduce them to the entire range. We
have some flexibility at the Zilina plant. If
we don't do it immediately, it is because
of the cost effect as even adding a mild
hybrid has a repercussion on the final
price of the vehicle. We are putting a lot
of technology in the car.
Will the mild hybrid be offered in other models?
Not next year, but as soon as we change
the models we will introduce mild hybrid
and other forms of electrification.

Meet the COO
❚ NAME: Emilio Herrera
❚ TITLE: Kia Europe COO
❚ AGE: 57
❚ MAIN CHALLENGE: Avoiding
CO2 fines despite continued strong
demand for Kia's SUVs.

The basic question about mild hybrids is: Is the slight CO2 reduction
worth the extra cost?
The target is so stringent, that every little bit counts. Mild hybrids will help, the
type of tires we use help. We even have
contingency plans for next year [when
the CO2 rules start to go into effect] to
make sure we don't miss the target. Our
Korean headquarters doesn't want us to
miss the target. In the Korean culture,
this would be a major failure.

tracts with our battery suppliers for the
plug-ins. A year ago we didn't expect this
kind of demand for BEVs, so we didn't
ask LG Chem and SK Innovation for
enough batteries. All our batteries are
currently shipped from Korea.

Which kind of contingency plans?
For example, all company cars could be
electric; all the dealers' demo cars could
be electric; we could make our car-sharing enterprise in Spain all-electric. We
could also introduce low-emissions tires
on every vehicle.

How many BEVs?
About 12,000 eNiros and 4,000 eSouls.

Is battery supply still a problem?
Yes, we can't get enough of them.
Will this problem also affect your upcoming plug-in hybrids?
No, because we have reworked the con-

How many electrified vehicles will
you sell in Europe this year?
They will account for 15 percent of our
total sales, so approximately 75,000 out
of 500,000 units.

Last year you said Kia needs to sell
40,000 EVs to meet the EU CO2 target. Is that still the case?
That's exactly the number we need for
2020. Luckily the production of batteries
will start to rise in the second half of this
year, helping us produce and sell the necessary number of cars in 2020. ANE

SEPTEMBER 2019

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Automotive News Europe - September 2019

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