New Body-On-Frame Truck For America

• Kia plans to launch a new midsize electric and range-extended hybrid truck in the United States by 2030.
• It will likely share a platform with Hyundai’s new body-on-frame pickup.
• Kia will also launch a new global ‘flagship’ SUV in 2029.

Kia has big plans for the rest of the decade. Today, the Korean automaker laid out its mid-to-long-term strategy through 2030, detailing several upcoming models, which include a mid-size body-on-frame pickup for the United States and a global “flagship” electric SUV. The automaker presented its global plan at its annual investor day conference.  

Kia will offer the new mid-size truck with either an electric or range-extended hybrid powertrain. We expect it will share the platform that will underpin Hyundai’s upcoming pickup, and it might even spawn a rugged Kia SUV.  

The automaker also wants to double the number of hybrid electric vehicles it offers, from four to eight, and achieve 1.02 million sales by 2030—Kia sold 852,155 vehicles in America last year. Kia plans to sell 90,000 trucks in the US by 2034, according to Automotive News.  

Hyundai will also deploy its new Atlas robots at two factories in America by 2029.  

Photo by: Kia

The New ‘Flagship’ SUV

In addition to a new truck, US buyers might also have the opportunity to consider a new electric SUV. According to Autocar, Kia said this new model will be a “flagship volume EV model” and one of three new global vehicles the automaker plans to launch. Kia did not clarify if it would sell the new vehicle in the US.

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Right now, the EV9 is the automaker’s electric flagship. It rides on the Electric Global Modular Platform, which underpins several models, but one thing Kia plans to launch before the end of the decade is a next-generation EV architecture.

Kia wants to expand its EV offerings from 11 to 14. One of those will be the compact EV1. Nine of them will be SUVs, with three commercial vehicles. Despite Kia expanding its EV lineup, the automaker expects to sell 1 million EVs annually, down from last year’s projection of 1.3 million.  

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Source: Hyundai

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Motor1’s Take: A body-on-frame pickup from Kia doesn’t come as a big surprise. With Hyundai venturing into the segment, too, competing against established models like the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger, Kia’s powertrain lineup could help differentiate it.

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