More plug-in hybrids for this popular brand? Kia open to new PHEVs, with Sportage and more a chance to join Sorento in a bid to battle BYD Sealion 6 and Mitsubishi Outlander

If you’re keen on a hybrid from an established brand but want something other than a Toyota, there might be a few more options on the horizon soon, with Kia set to ramp up its plug-in hybrid offerings.

But don’t expect the Korean giant to roll out any new PHEVs just yet.

Like sister brand Hyundai, Kia has a broad spread of powertrain options for buyers across multiple body styles, ranging from traditional petrol and diesel engines, so-called ‘plugless’ hybrids and battery electric vehicles.

But at the moment the only PHEV available from Kia is the Sorento seven-seat SUV. And the catch is it’s only offered in top-spec GT-Line guise for a hefty $84,660 before on-road costs.

Given the rollout of the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) this year, and the ramp up of that in the coming years, Kia sees PHEVs as a necessary part of the line-up moving forward.

“I think that under NVES, the plug-in hybrid definitely does help substantially, in terms of the credits you could gain, particularly as the targets get ramped up over the years,” Kia Australia’s General Manager of Product Planning Roland Rivero told CarsGuide.

“Plug-in hybrid’s a good thing, and we'll try and get as many as we can for Sorento. At this stage, there's no other product that can bring in plug-in hybrid. But we're at midway in certain generations, like in Sportage and what not, so it's not to say that it can't come in future generations of other new products to come.”

It’s unclear what other models Rivero is hinting at, but given the Sorento and Carnival share underpinnings, there’s a good chance the next-generation version of the people mover could adopt PHEV tech.

The upcoming Tasman ute has also been engineered for multiple powertrain derivatives and PHEV is shaping up as one of them. Whether Kia looks at smaller models in its line-up like the Seltos and K4 remains to be seen.

But the Sportage is the most likely candidate. It competes in the super competitive medium SUV segment against the likes of the Toyota RAV4, Nissan X-Trail, the related Hyundai Tucson, and models that come in PHEV guise like the Mitsubishi Outlander and BYD Sealion 6.

Kia currently sells plugless hybrid versions of the Sportage, Sorento, Carnival and the Niro compact SUV.

Kia Australia Chief Operating Officer Dennis Piccoli said NVES creates challenges for many car brands, but added that Kia was uniquely positioned to respond.

“For us this year, with the inclusion of NVES from January 1 and penalty credit regime from July 1, there's a lot of variables at play at this point of time,” he told CarsGuide.

“We're quite fortunate that we've got a great array of product coming through, and particularly with NVES, with that plan, as a brand, and as a group, we're probably ahead of many of the established brands, in terms of that EV growth.”

While Piccoli said he’s largely happy with initial sales of the new EV5 medium electric SUV since its launch, he said the addition of the GT-Line variant this month and interest from fleets would help grow sales. But he was clear about the less than stellar growth of EVs generally last year.

“Clearly, the EV market didn't grow as much as we were expecting through 2024. That said, I think the narrative is going to change with NVES, that intermediate powertrain with hybrids is clearly going to be quite popular over the next couple of years, and it works well under the NVES regime, not so much in 2027/28.

“We have our hands up for some additional variants in that hybrid space. If there's opportunity there we've got the capability to introduce new variants within model lines in that hybrid space to accommodate more slivers of that marketplace.”