April 9, 2026 - Kia Ramps Up EVs and VW Pulls Back

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for April 9, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry.  

As the market for electric vehicles in North America continues to face struggles, two automakers are moving in opposite directions. Kia held its 2026 investor day in Seoul, where CEO Ho Sung Song laid out the brand's product plans for the next five years. Among those plans is the expansion of its lineup of EVs from 11 to 14 models by 2030. That will include two cars, nine SUVs, and three models from its Platform Beyond Vehicle platform, or PBV. The first PBV model is the midsize PV5 van that went on sale in South Korea last year after being unveiled at the 2024 CES. Last week at the New York Auto Show, Kia showed a proposal for a new taxi based on the PV5 equipped with a Braunability wheelchair system. Kia hopes to launch that vehicle in 2027. Before then, it plans to add the EV3 compact crossover to the U.S. lineup later this year. 

Unsurprisingly, just days after Hyundai confirmed its own midsize body-on-frame pickup and showed an SUV concept from the same platform,  Kia also announced it will add a new pickup truck for North America. That vehicle will feature both hybrid and extended-range EV powertrains, which we'll probably see in the Hyundai as well. Kia is targeting 1 million EV sales globally by 2030, including low-cost models like the new EV2 and Syros.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is the latest to pull back on its EV plans. After debuting the second-generation Atlas SUV in New York, VW acknowledged that it won't even offer a hybrid version until the mid-cycle refresh, which is likely at least two to three years away. In the meantime, they are prioritizing Atlas production at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant and ending local production of the ID4 this month. They expect to have enough ID4 inventory to last into 2027, and they're planning a next-gen ID4, but no timing has been given or information about where it will be produced. New reports also indicate that Scout is delaying production of its Traveler SUV by a year until late 2028, with the Terra pickup now pushed back to 2030. 

Thanks for listening.