Kia Lucky Motors, Pakistan launches fourth generation Kia Sorento SUV On May 10, Kia Lucky Motors Corporation (LMC) launched the fourth-generation Kia Sorento, a three-row SUV, in three variants: the 3.5L V6 FWD priced at PKR 13.5 million, the 1.6L Turbo Hybrid FWD at PKR 14.7 million, and the 1.6L Turbo Hybrid AWD at PKR 16 million. Bookings for the vehicle commenced on May 11, 2025. The 3.5L V6 FWD variant is powered by a SmartStream 3.5 V6 MPI...

News  Updated at: 2025/05/12

LMC Automotive blog: Turkey’s LV market under President Erdoğan’s rule and its future In 2022, the Turkish light vehicle (LV) market registered 783k units as OEMs struggled to fulfil backlogged orders on the back of a stringent supply situation. Coming into 2023, the market has surged. LV sales totalled 236k units in Q1 – 55.2% higher than Q1 2022 sales. This was also significantly higher than the 10-year Q1 average of 156k units. This blo...

News  Updated at: 2023/07/04

2% to 289,451 units (25.8% share) and Stellantis was down 0.5% to 190,688 units (17.0% share). Renault Group was up 35.5% to 110,549 units (9.9% share). Hyundai Group was up 0.1% to 97,081 units (8.7% share) and BMW Group was up 24.8% to 84,781 units (7.6% share). ACEA press release on June 21, 2023LMC Automotive European Passenger Car Sales Update (May 2023) May 2023 Share Y-O-Y Jan. 2023-May 2023 Share Y-O-Y EU 938,950 83...

News  Updated at: 2023/06/22

LMC Automotive blog: Imagining Korean automotive decarbonisation in 2099 When it comes to what fuel powers their cars, Korean drivers embrace diversity. At the time of writing, in Korea, more than 98% of vehicles in operation are powered by a range of commercialised fossil fuels including gasoline, diesel, LPG, CNG and hybrid (fossil fuel + electricity) while roughly 2% of them are zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), fully powered by electricity or hy...

News  Updated at: 2023/06/22

LMC Automotive blog: Maruti Suzuki, not backing down! Anyone who might have thought that Maruti Suzuki, the long-time market leader in India, was just going to sit idly by and give up market share easily – just because it is weak in SUVs – was sorely mistaken. The automaker is fighting back, and fighting back strongly, with a spate of SUV launches in quick succession. While its fightback really started in 2016 with the launch of the Vitara Br...

News  Updated at: 2023/06/20

LMC Automotive blog: China: the world’s biggest auto exporter in 2023? China’s Personal Vehicle (PV) exports showed a strong upward trend from January to April this year, in contrast to the unsatisfactory domestic market performance in 2023. In the first four months of 2023, PV exports reached 1.12 mn units, increasing by 113% YoY and accounting for 16% of total China PV production. At a monthly level, export growth in the past five years is ...

News  Updated at: 2023/06/15

LMC Automotive blog: PV and LCV market shares in Thailand normalise after temporary COVID-19 distortions In the first quarter of this year, Passenger Vehicle (PV) sales in Thailand surged by 9% while Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales plunged by 21% compared to last year. As a result, the market share of the PV segment improved from an average of 51% of total LV sales during the pandemic period between 2020-2022 to an average of 59% in Q1 2023....

News  Updated at: 2023/06/02

LMC Automotive blog: Sodium-ion batteries – is salt as sweet as we think? Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as a potential alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for automotive applications. SIBs are at the forefront of the news, overtaking SSBs (solid-state batteries) as the winner in this week’s list of ‘ground-breaking technology advancements. But we have been aware of SIBs for some time. The surprising element is...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/30

LMC Automotive blog: Will the EU’s 2035 ban on ICE light vehicles impact total vehicle sales? All new cars and vans sold in the EU from 2035 must effectively be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), except for e-fuels and low-volume automakers. However, given that only 12% of new Light Vehicles (LVs) sold in the EU last year were ZEV and with the variation between those markets being wide, the question arises of whether the proposal is realistically at...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/24

1.6% to 263,871 units (27.3% share) and Stellantis was up 8.2% to 169,022 units (17.5% share). Renault Group was up 39.5% to 97,980 units (10.2% share). Hyundai Group was up 1.1% to 89,804 units (9.3% share) and BMW Group was up 4.4% to 66,550 units (6.9% share). ACEA press release on May 17, 2023 LMC Automotive European Passenger Car Sales Update (April 2023) Apr. 2023 Share Y-O-Y Jan. 2023-Apr. 2023 Share Y-O-Y EU 803,18...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/19

LMC Automotive blog: The “Nokia” moment for China’s auto market has arrived The biennial 2023 Shanghai Auto Show officially kicked off on April 18 and is the first international ‘A-level’ auto show of the year. In terms of the scale of the exhibition, this year’s Shanghai Auto Show encompassed thirteen indoor exhibition halls in the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), with a total exhibition area of more than 360,000...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/12

LMC Automotive blog: Ready, Set, Go! Can China be caught in the BEV race? China has taken an early and substantial lead in becoming a battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturing superpower, producing just under two-thirds of all global BEVs in 2022. In a distant second place is Europe followed more closely by North America, accounting for 17% and 11% of global BEV build in 2022, respectively. Given these figures you would be forgiven for thinkin...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/11

LMC Automotive blog: India, set to become the world’s third-largest LV market The Indian market is roaring back. At the height of the pandemic, Light Vehicle (LV) sales plunged to a ten-year low of 2.8 mn units in 2020, a 30% decline, compared to 4 mn units in 2018.  In the last two years, however, the market rebounded strongly – indeed, so strongly that sales reached a record high of 4.39 mn units in 2022, surpassing Japan’s dismal 4.17 m...

News  Updated at: 2023/05/02

o 346,314 units (24.4% share) and Stellantis was up 23.3% to 251,122 units (17.7% share). Renault Group was up 26.9% to 120,321 units (8.5% share). Hyundai Group was up 10.1% to 119,394 units (8.4% share) and BMW Group was up 21.7% to 97,440 units (6.9% share). ACEA press release on April 19, 2023 LMC Automotive European Passenger Car Sales Update (March 2023) Mar. 2023 Share Y-O-Y Jan. 2023-Mar. 2023 Share Y-O-Y EU 1,087,...

News  Updated at: 2023/04/25

LMC Automotive blog: Is the MEA region ripe for BEV adoption? The Middle East and Africa (MEA) BEV market is growing rapidly, driven by a combination of government incentives, increasing awareness of the benefits of BEVs, and the development of charging infrastructure. The first of these, government incentives, is one of the main drivers of the BEV market. Many countries in the region, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and more re...

News  Updated at: 2023/04/20

LMC Automotive blog: Are we seeing the end of the entry-level car? The number of the smallest, entry-level cars has been on the decline in Europe. In this Analyst Briefing, we will explore the factors leading to the disappearance of small cars, how the supply crisis accelerated this trend, and why they all tie back to the same overarching theme – profit and margins. EU legislation The entry point to car ownership usually starts with A-segment h...

News  Updated at: 2023/04/07

LMC Automotive blog: Indonesia’s EV aspiration could face more challenges than opportunities Indonesia finally made a preliminary announcement of its long-awaiting incentive programme for Electric Vehicles (EVs) in March 2023. However, details of the programme remain scarce. This is what we know so far. The scheme will cover 35,900 EVs. Locally built Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) will be subject to a reduced VAT of 1% compared to the 11% app...

News  Updated at: 2023/04/05

LMC Automotive blog: Will a new approach make Renault-Nissan successful in India? Renault and Nissan’s planned capital injection of USD 600 million (INR 53 billion) in India – mainly towards six new vehicles (three each), including two BEVs from 2025 onward – coupled with a modified strategy will determine the group’s future in the market. We believe the two partners’ novel approach will be akin to the decades-old strategy employed by H...

News  Updated at: 2023/03/31

LMC Automotive blog: Will Europe’s BEV market be derailed by e-fuels? Following intense lobbying from some of Germany’s premium vehicle makers and the prospect of the EU’s flagship 2035 zero CO2 vehicle policy being scuppered at the final hurdle by abstention from Germany and pushback from Italy, it seems that e-fuels will be allowed to form part of the powertrain mix for new Light Vehicles (LVs) in the EU and EU+ markets beyond 2035. Surel...

News  Updated at: 2023/03/27

o 235,404 units (26.1% share) and Stellantis was up 2.0% to 167,097 units (18.5% share). Renault Group was up 28.8% to 91,352 units (10.1% share). Hyundai Group was up 1.4% to 77,375 units (8.6% share) and Toyota Group was up 14.4% to 65,059 units (7.2% share). ACEA press release on 21, March 2023 LMC Automotive European Passenger Car Sales Update (February 2023) Feb. 2023 Share Y-O-Y Jan. 2023-Feb. 2023 Share Y-O-Y EU 802...

News  Updated at: 2023/03/23