Great news for 2023 Kia EV6 buyers! Despite soaring demand, buyers waiting for delivery of the popular electric car are finally thrown a bone

Good news for electric car buyers. Kia has secured more stock of its popular EV6 for Australia.

However, while the 20 per cent bump is nowhere near enough to address the massive order bank accumulated since the electric car went on sale earlier this year, the number heading to Australia in 2023 is expected to increase.

According to Kia Motors Australia chief operating officer, Damien Meredith, there should be a freer supply from next year, but for now, most people waiting for an EV6 must hold out for a little longer.

“(The supply situation will) probably not (change) in 2022, but going forward, I think what that does, it probably gives us a chance for getting a few more,” he told CarsGuide late last week.

“The problem at the moment, what we need to do, is get another 2000 EV6s into the country, and that’s just an impossibility.

“I would assume, and looking at our monthly arrivals of EV6, we’ll get a little bit more than 500 this year, but it will probably only be 20%, so it will probably be around 600… that’s far, far from enough for what’s required in regards to demand, but I’m happy it will be roughly 600 units this year.”

Mr Meredith believes that he can sell six times as many EV6s in Australia if the production delays affecting all vehicle manufacturing around the world at the moment eases up.

“If we had unlimited supply, at our pricing now, including the go-faster GT – we’d probably do 3000 units a year, maybe a bit more,” he revealed.

The long-serving local Kia boss and industry stalwart said the EV6 is a once-in-a-generation model that has shifted perceptions of the brand far better than any other car in the company’s lengthy portfolio of diverse vehicles ­– including the well-received Stinger performance sports liftback.

“The effect of EV6 on the brand, and on the public enquiry on the brand, EV6 has done a far better job [than Stinger],” he said.

“Whilst it doesn’t have the panache it did a decade or two decades ago, being the first Korean manufacturer to win (significant) car of the year awards… it was a proud moment for me… I think it speaks volumes for what that car has done for the brand and will do for the brand.

“You can’t dismiss what the new Sportage and new Carnival (have done with their respective awards), so we’re in a great space in regards to what we can do from a brand point of view with the product coming through.

“We’ve worked really, really hard on brand, there has been a massive change in the way we communicate the message of our brand over a pretty short period of time, and I think it’s worked volumes for us.

“We’re really proud of what the EV6 has achieved, but you’re only as good as your last kick, you got to keep going.”

Along with developing better vehicles, Mr Meredith believes there are other key factors behind Kia’s brand awakening over the past few years.

“I think it’s the trilogy of that – it’s the new technology, it’s the design cues of EV6, and the new logo,” he said.

“I think the perception has been that we’ve been able to in a marketing and from a consumer point of view say: “Hey, history, yeah we’ve got it, but that was old and this is new Kia.

“I think that is resonating dramatically with consumers, not just in Australia but also worldwide.”