Statistics Don’t Lie: Inside Kia’s push to match its EV ownership experience to its products
Feb 24, 2026 | 9 min read | 1,590 words | Share article
Mike Sinclair
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Owner survey data reveals the gap every legacy brand must close – and Kia Australia boss says changes are underway, even if the benefits won’t land until 2027
Kia Australia has a problem most automotive brands would love to have – and one that could cost it dearly if left unresolved.
The brand’s electric vehicles are attracting buyers who’d never have considered a Kia before. The EV6, EV5 and EV3 are conquesting customers from Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and even premium European marques at a remarkable rate. Kia sits third in Australian EV sales behind only Tesla and BYD, and Kia CEO Damien Meredith is targeting 13,000 to 15,000 electric vehicle sales in 2026 – a potential increase of more than 60 per cent on 2025’s 8000 units.
The products, by any measure, are doing their job.
But an owner survey conducted by the Kia EV Owners Club of Australia (KEVOCA) has exposed a troubling pattern that Meredith acknowledges demands
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Love it – thanks Mike
It would be interesting to hear the Kia dealers’ POV on this. Also, 400-strong KEVOCA members and 200 respondents out of 8000 deliveries last year is not especially representative. If you’re in KEVOCA you’re far more likely to be a passionate/activist early adopter rather than a regular punter, so expectations and frustrations would be more acute than an average buyer, particularly a business or council/government fleet EV user. Presumably Mr Meredith has broader customer research at his disposal to either reinforce or dispute this survey’s findings? That’s not to say that orienting the comms message towards EV customers is a bad idea. But both Kia and Tesla have the same issue. They moved quickly into the EV market and scooped up a lot of the pent-up demand from a tiny market niche, and now there are EV options everywhere. These customers are more about the EV product than brand adherents, and now both brands need to titillate and inspire existing customers before they wander off in search of the next new shiny object.