Kia is targeting a 5% share of the van market by 2030, equating to around 17,500 units at today’s levels, as it embarks upon the introduction of its first light commercial vehicles in the UK.
Three full electric models will be launched over the next four years starting with the compact PV5, with orders now open for delivery in Q4. Kia is forecasting registrations of 3,000 to 4,000 in the PV5’s first full year (2026).
The mid-size PV7 is scheduled for 2027 with the large PV9 due in 2029. The small PV3 and last mile delivery PV1 micro van are not currently in the plan, according to Kia UK executives.
All models will be offered with Kia’s standard seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, as well as its eight-year battery warranty which is based on a minimum health state of 70%. Servicing schedules have been set at two years/20,000 miles.
Sanka De Silva, Kia UK sales director, told Fleet News: “Ultimately, we want a 5% share of the market, similar to where we are with cars, which means 17,000 sales by 2030.”
Kia is planning a network of 60 sales and aftersales outlets, a combination of existing Kia car dealerships and standalone or multi-brand van centres.
Around 40% are expected to be attached to a car dealership with Kia undertaking a comprehensive programme of training and resourcing to support those businesses.
It will also use its parts facility in Tamworth to offer overnight delivery and a 97% first pick availability, giving reassurance to fleets that any unscheduled downtime will be kept to a minimum.
Aftersales director Chris Lear said: “Opening hours will meet customer requirements, so that will include out of hours if required. All shared facilities will have a dedicated service desk and advisor, as well as two workshop ramps with one at 5.5 tonnes.”
Kia expects the PV5, which sits in the Kangoo/Transit Connect segment, despite appearing to be larger, to appeal to the SME market, with the dealer network key in engaging this local business.
“Total cost of ownership is a strength with our warranty and good payload,” said De Silva. “We have performed well with residual values on our electric cars, and we hope that will also happen on the vans.”
The medium PV7 is expected to be the volume fleet seller, forecast to sell “two to 2.5 times the volume of the PV5”, according to commercial director Simon Hetherington.
“Barriers are being overcome and, with the ZEV (zero emission vehicle) mandate, we expect the rate of growth to be significant,” he added.
Around 8% of van registrations in the UK this year are full electric, with total market sales running 10% behind last year, which finished at 350,000.
Based on the ZEV mandate targets, which requires 70% of all new van registrations to be full electric by 2030, Kia is predicting a zero-emission market of around 250,000 within five years.
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Bauer B2B group editor Stephen Briers has been an automotive business journalist since 1995. He has been editor of Fleet News since 2009 and before that was editor of Automotive Management for almost seven years. He now oversees both brands, as well as RAIL magazine.
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