KIA UK his jumped to number one in fleet sales thanks to a combination of a balanced model mix and a relatively good supply of vehicles while other manufacturers have struggled to get cars.

While sales to fleets and leasing brokers have been suppressed by some manufacturers due to a lack of supply, Kia has achieved in excess of 50,000 fleet sales this year, up 12%.

Kia has seen its mix jump from 30-70 fleet to retail mix a couple of years ago to 60-40 now in favour of fleet.

John Hargreaves, General Manager for Fleet and Remarketing at Kia UK, said: “We are seeing our electric vehicles becoming a real success in fleet and while we are getting a good supply, lead times are longer so we are making sure customers are looked after while they wait.

“We do have some supply issues but fewer than many other manufacturers and we will keep going in all areas and channels of the fleet market including daily rental, motability and leasing brokers although in some cases we are having to tell some customers we can’t sell them as many cars as they would like.

“We are obviously very pleased with our number one position in fleet but we have been careful how we have controlled growth so that we can protect residual values.

“We are already seeing greatly improved RVs on EVs. Not long ago RVs on battery electric vehicles were around 27% after three years and we are now seeing 40-45%. This is almost certainly due to the fact vehicles now have longer ranges so charge anxiety has become less of an issue.”

Some months ago, Kia said it would protect prices despite long lead times and while Hargreaves said it planned to continue this with ICE models, inflation in battery costs have chipped away at margins so it can no longer protect EV prices which may increase during waiting times which he said some leasing companies will find difficult.

How about next year? Kia UK Sales Director Steve Hicks said: “People have been extending leases because of covid and the current economic climate, but this can’t go on forever. We don’t expect to be number one in fleet next year but we expect to remain strong in supply and strong in EVs.

“Electrified vehicles now account for 42% of our sales in the UK up from 36% last year: Of that 42%, 19% are fully battery electric, 17% are hybrid and 6% Plug-in Hybrid.

“This year has been a strange one, we thought the market might open up as we came out of covid but it has turned out to be the lowest car market since Kia launched in the UK 32 years ago.

“Most car manufacturers have struggled with supply but we have coped really well in this respect getting almost as many vehicles as we asked for from our factories in South Korea and Europe.

“We are well on course to sell 100,000 cars in the UK for the first time and we will almost certainly achieve that figure. On top of that we have an order bank for 45,000 vehicles for next year.

“Orders can be cancelled of course and further turbulence in the market is a risk but inquiries continue to be string across all channels.”