Kia Australia says the entry level EV2 The all-electric crossover is likely leaning towards no for a local launch, with production and freight costs cited as the main challenges.
Speak with AutoExpert At the launch of the new EV4 Sedan, Roland Rivero, general manager for product planning at Kia Australia, said the local arm will struggle to get the price of the Slovakia-built EV2 below the entry price of the Korean-sourced EV3.
“[The EV2] probably won’t come to the price we would like,” Mr. Rivero told CarExpert.
“It needs to sit comfortably below an EV3, and if we can’t get it far enough below an EV3, we start to question its viability for our market.
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“We’ve mentioned that in the past, especially when BYD introduced the Atto 2 [with a price] starting with a ‘3’, it just has to make sense.”
“Any variant that we want to look at, we need to ensure that it adds real value to Kia Australia, whether it is a true halo product or whether it will also be positioned and priced accordingly,” Mr Rivero added.
AutoExpert understands that while the EV2 would not be subject to import tariffs like combustion engine vehicles from Europe, the higher production costs from Kia’s Slovak plant plus the longer and more complex shipping route to get vehicles Down Under are the biggest hurdles affecting the price of the new model.
For reference, the EV2 is expected to retail for around £25,000 (A$49,021) in the UK, while the Korean-built EV3 starts from just over £33,000 (A$64,708). In Australia, however, the base price of the EV3 starts from $47,600 plus on-road costs, which poses a significant challenge for the local arm on a direct currency conversion basis alone.
The 2026 Kia EV2 recently made its world debut at the Brussels Motor Show, becoming the smallest and most affordable model in Kia’s European EV range.
The signature boxy design is complemented by bright exterior and interior color and trim options, with two battery sizes available in Europe – 42.2 kWh and 61.0 kWh, offering 317 km and 448 km WLTP range (pending) respectively.
At just under 4060mm long and 1800mm wide and with a wheelbase of 2565mm, the EV2 is shorter than Kia’s own Stonic crossover. However, it is wider and offers up to 403 liters of cargo space thanks to the sliding rear seats.
Power comes from a 107kW front-mounted electric motor in the Standard Range, while the Long Range gets a (oddly) less powerful 100kW motor. From 0 to 100 km/h takes 8.6 and 9.5 seconds respectively.
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