One of Europe’s last truly affordable city cars could disappear by 2030, Autocar reports.

Kia says its compact Kia Picanto could be in danger if the UK’s mandatory electric vehicle (EV) sales rules are not relaxed, as the South Korean automaker’s UK market is one of its key markets.

The so-called ZEV Mandate is a quota system that requires carmakers to increase the share of EVs in sales each year. Accordingly, by 2026, EVs must account for at least 33% of all sales of each brand in the UK, and by 2030, the sale of new gasoline cars will be banned.

For Kia, its Kia Picanto remains a strategically important model: it is one of the few remaining ultra-flexible compact cars on the market at a relatively affordable price. However, the profit margins from such cars are small, and stricter environmental requirements are making their production increasingly unprofitable.

The company warns that without regulatory changes, its Picanto production may be discontinued by the end of the decade. At the same time, Kia is exploring the possibility of creating an electric successor in the form of the conventional Kia EV1, which could retain the compact city car format, but already on an electric platform.

If the Picanto does indeed leave the market, it will become yet another example of how the transition to EVs is gradually crowding out traditional affordable small number of cars. For many Europeans, such cars have long been the most affordable way to buy a new car.

Source: https://news.am/en/news/1035256