The low-cost Rio compact car will not make its come back to the US for a 2024 model year. Rather, Kia is supposed to have transitioned its production facility to Mexico. The place where the Rio is built in order to develop two new EVs.
Kia retires the Rio in order to bring new EVs
As per the Automotive News, the Kia Rio will walk behind its small Hyundai counterpart. Since the same was retired after the 2022 model year. The situation arises as US buyers are more inclined towards larger vehicles. This comprises minivans, crossovers, SUVs, and pickups. And it consolidated nearly 80% of this year’s sales of all new vehicles in the US through June.
Another aspect is that Kia remains stuck to sedans instead of Rio sales falling 14% to 26,996 last year and 2% through July. The automaker is also upgrading its making plant in Mexico, the presently built unit of Rio. The information was revealed by the governor of New Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Samuel Garcia via Twitter in May.
Garcia previously stated a “billion-dollar investment to expand its plant and produce two Kia car models.” While later on removing the word “billion-dollar.”
The report is not officially confirmed but one of the posts mentions:
“Kia announces billion dollar investment to install another plant in Nuevo Leon where it will produce two new electric models in conjunction with Hyundai.”
Furthermore, Kia intended to come up with 14 EVs worldwide by 2027. It includes the flagship EV9, which is the first three-row electric SUV that was introduced in March.
In the interim, Kia is inclined to go beyond SUVs. The company’s marketing director for Kia Europe said Autocar recently that the company would “have coverage in all major segments.” The same covers the models starting from an EV1 up to EV9 respectively.
Ahead of this year, Kia disclosed the EV5 crossover. The model sits between the Niro EV and EV6. Before its launch at the Chengdu Motor Show in China, the leaked images revealed the EV5 in full production form. The EV5 will be produced in China and exported to international markets. Also, the electric crossover is supposed to come to around $40,000, the company has also disclosed that it will roll out an all-electric pickup.