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AsiaToday reporter Choi Sung-rok = New Genesis and LF Sonata, which have been receiving much attention from Hyundai-Kia chairman Chung Mong-koo, have become a sensation in the market. If Hyundai-Kia's Soul EV to be launched next month also receives good response in the market, Hyundai-Kia's '3 highly expected vehicles' will be making a successful debut. If those vehicles gain momentum in sale, the company would be expecting a significant increase of market share in the domestic market as well.
According to the automotive industry on the 9th, Kia's Soul EV's last consumer price will be at 15 to 17 million won. Kia has not yet announced the official price, but the industry believes that Soul EV won't be priced over 40 million won.
The consumer price of the car is the amount of its factory price (expected at 38 to 40 million won) subtracted by government's subsidy of 15 million won and local government's additional subsidy of 8 million won.
The Soul EV is mounted with an 81.4-kW electric motor, which can generate 109 horsepower with a maximum torque of 29 kilograms-meters. It can travel up to 148 kilometers when fully charged. It takes 25 minutes to recharge quickly in the station while it takes about 5 hours to fully charge at home.
Although its annual sales volume is set to about 1,000 units, Kia is making all efforts to sell Soul EV in an attempt to preoccupy eco-friendly vehicle market.
Hyundai-Kia said, "The Soul EV will be able to ensure the price competitiveness since it has a mass production line. We will aggressively expand the electric vehicle market mainly through Soul EV."
Electric cars launched in domestic market include GM Korea's Spark EV, Renault Samsung's SM3 Z.E.. Also, imported cars such as BMW's i3, Volkswagen's e-Golf and Nissan's Reef will be launched this year.
Meanwhile, Hyundai-Kia is expecting great things from Soul EV as its recently launched new Genesis and LF Sonata achieved more than expected.
