Waiting times for the Kia EV6 electric vehicle remain off the charts, even though Kia Australia has secured extra cars from later this year.
The Kia EV6 electric car – and the hot hatch version Kia EV6 GT – have waiting times that stretch beyond two years, despite Kia Australia securing a 20 per cent increase in allocation.
Kia Australia says the waiting time for the recently-released Kia EV6 and upcoming Kia EV6 GT – which promises Tesla-like performance – remains at two years even though the company has managed to secure extra stock.
Kia Australia was initially allocated 500 examples of the Kia EV6 this year but has since been allocated an extra 100 cars from the South Korean factory.
“We had 500 (Kia EV6 cars allocated to Australia), we now have an extra 100 to bring us to 600 for this year, a 20 per cent increase,” said the boss of Kia Australia Damien Meredith. “The waiting time based on current output? Probably about two years.”
The Kia Australia boss revealed he gets stopped in the street regularly by people curious about how he was able to secure a car.
“People know what this car is, it’s done wonders for our brand more than any other car including Stinger,” says Meredith.
“When they ask me how I got one, I tell them ‘I know someone’, and then explain why I’m so lucky to be able to drive one.”
When asked how many Kia EV6 electric cars the company could sell in Australia today if it had unlimited supply, Mr Meredith said: “We could sell about 3000 annually, based on current demand.”
Mr Meredith said Kia Australia was doing everything it can and is working with the factory to secure more EV6 cars for local customers, but encouraged buyers to place an order and get in the queue.
“We would like to be able to deliver more cars more quickly and we appreciate the high level of interest in this car,” said Mr Meredith. “We ask our customers to please be patient, place an order, and get in the queue – because then we can go to the factory and demonstrate how many orders we have.”
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