Three new electric ute models emerge as South Korea muscles in

South Korean electric vehicle makers are staking a claim in the nascent – and potentially huge – global electric ute market, with Kia revealing plans to add two electric pick-ups to its fleet by 2026 and SsangYong’s new owners reported to be fast-tracking an all-electric version of the Musso ute.

Kia said earlier this month that it would add a dedicated electric pickup truck as well as a “strategic model” for emerging markets to a list of 14 BEVs it was now planning to release by 2027, at a rate of at least two a year.

The updated roadmap, which builds on Kia’s ‘Plan S’ strategy first announced in 2020, was announced at the car maker’s CEO Investor Day in the first week of March. It boosts the pipeline of BEVs from 11 models by 2026 to 14 by 2027 – including the two electric utes.

It’s unclear exactly where in the development pipeline the two electric utes are situated, or what that might mean for the Australian market.

According to the investor day statement, Kia currently counts its “major markets” as Korea, North America, Europe and China – Australia, with its patchy policy support and lack of federal road-map charting the electrification of transport, fails to rate a mention.

Interestingly, however, Kia says that in the US, “where mid-sized SUVs and pickups are popular,” electric versions of those models will be produced – locally – from 2024.

So perhaps if Australia gets its act together on EV policies and infrastructure, and supply-chain issues start to ease, it, too, could become a key target market for Kia’s electric within the next few years.

Meanwhile, SsangYong’s brand new owner, a consortium led by South Korean EV maker Edison Motors, is reportedly making an all-electric version of the Musso ute – called the Rexton Sports in Korea – a priority for the brand’s rehabilitation.

The Edison Motors group finalised its purchase of SsangYong Motor for ₩305 billion ($A354.8 million) in January this year, as part of a court-led sale that stipulated a credible business plan to help the debt-ridden Korean manufacturer survive.

According to reports citing South Korean news site, Daily Car, SsangYong is already well into the development stage of the electric Musso, and could bring it into production as early as next year – potentially beating the Kia electric utes to the market.

Again, what all this means for Australia remains to be seen. But SsangYong, at least, has an established presence in the Australian ute market with its ICE Musso utility, which starts in the mid-$30,000s on price, drive away.

According to January 2022 data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, the nation’s strong appetite for utility vehicles shows no sign of abating, with utes accounting for three of the four top-selling vehicles nationwide – all of them, of course, ICE models.

Toyota HiLux topped the list with 3591 sold for the month of January 2022, followed by the Ford Ranger ute in second place with 3245 and the Mitsubishi Triton ute in fourth place.

Electric utes and SUVs are predicted to leave their internal combustion engine predecessors in their dust, thanks to a combination of built-in power in the form of a battery and instant torque afforded by their electric motors.

On that front, Arizona-based EV start-up Atlis Motor Vehicles could be the first to market in Australia, with “launch goals” for late 2022 expected to see its offering arrive on Australian shores in 2023.

The much anticipated and heavily pre-ordered electric ute from fellow US company, Rivian, is also a contender for imminent launch in Australia – although no dates have been confirmed and the company is suffering the same supply chain difficulties as other EV manufacturers.

As The Driven has reported, the first two Rivian R1T electric ute and R1S electric SUV were reported to have arrived in Australia in late August, to undergo testing before the launch of sales and deliveries.