When Hyundai and Kia started to develop dedicated eco-friendly vehicles nearly six years ago, Kia U.S. pushed the company to build a crossover instead of a car. That decision is now paying off as the Kia Niro is outselling the Hyundai Ioniq by nearly 3 to 1.
Speaking with Wards Auto, Kia's Steve Kosowski said the company wanted to offer something “distinct within the marketplace" and not another Prius, Leaf, or Volt competitor. Timing also played a factor as development work was starting right around the same time that crossover sales really took off.
Kosowski went on to say there was a key meeting in 2012 where the U.S. team explained to executives in South Korea that "There’s this big wad of highly fuel-efficient cars over here and there’s not much up here [on the crossover side]. We think there’s a great opportunity for a highly fuel-efficient utility vehicle, enough that we want to go here.”
The meeting was enough for executives to green-light the Niro and that decision is starting to pay off as Kia has reportedly sold 12,676 units through the first half of the year. For comparison, the Hyundai Ioniq is far behind at 4,881 units.
The 2017 Niro starts at $22,890 and has a 1.6-liter engine which is backed up by a small electric motor and a 1.56 kWh lithium-ion battery. The model only has a combined output of 139 hp (103 kW) but it allows the car to return up to 52 mpg city / 49 mpg highway / 50 mpg combined.
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