Kia Seltos, Sonet & Carens waiting periods to reduce by end 2022: Here’s why

The managing director of Kia Motors has announced that they will be increasing the production by a third by the end of this year. The backorder for our country has been increasing despite maximising the production. By the end of 2022, Kia Motors would be producing 4,00,000 units.

The pending deliveries have increased from 82,000 to 1,27,000 between December 2021 and March 2022. Tae-Jin Park, managing director of Kia Motors said, “I think for the next few years we have already secured sufficient production capacity. The enhancement in capacity will happen at the existing site by the end of this year.”

The manufacturer is facing issues with the backlog because of the supply constraints. There is a limited number of ships as per him. Kia wants to increase the capacity at its manufacturing plant located in Anantapur. They will be doing this by improving efficiency. Park also said that the supply of semiconductors has improved which is a good thing.

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Park said, “The semiconductor situation is a nightmare. We do not know which chip will be or not be available. Logistics is a challenge. We monitor our production plan almost on a daily basis and make adjustments,”

Kia Motors has already started the third shift at their plant to increase production. They aim to produce 300,000-350,000 vehicles in CY2022, including exports. As of now, they are producing 2,27,000 vehicles. This accounts for 8 percent of their total production. Once the aim is achieved, India’s contribution will increase to 10 percent.

Kia Motors Profitable In Just 2 Years Of Operations

The manufacturer has become profitable in just two years of entering the Indian market. This is quite commendable considering the world was going through a pandemic also. The credit for this goes to the Seltos and Sonet, both of the SUVs have been incredibly successful in our Indian market.

Kia reported a profit of Rs 1,111 crore after tax for the year ended March 2021. In FY 2020, they had reported a loss of Rs. 239 Crores. In the last fiscal year, Kia’s turnover increased by 87 percent to Rs. 20,290 Crores.

Carens is a success

The most recent launch by Kia is the Carens MPV. It has already been able to score 60,000 bookings and Kia plans to sell 60,000 units of it in 2022. It is priced between Rs. 9.6 lakhs ex-showroom and goes up to Rs. 17.70 lakhs ex-showroom. It is offered in five variants. There is Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus. The Carens is officially sold as a 7-seater but you can get a 6-seater version with the Luxury Plus. The 6-seater version gets a bench seat for the middle row whereas the 6-seater version gets captain chairs.

There are three engine options to choose from. There is 1.4-litre turbo petrol, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The turbo petrol produces 140 Ps and 242 Nm whereas the naturally aspirated petrol produces 115 PS and 144 Nm. The diesel engine produces 115 PS and 250 Nm of peak torque. A 6-speed manual gearbox comes as standard with all the engines. The turbo petrol gets a 7-speed DCT whereas the diesel engine gets a 6-speed torque converter automatic.

Source

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