Firstly, I ask Paul how Kia is managing the ZEV mandate targets, amid what seems to be a moveable feast in terms of demand for EVs in the UK.

Philpott said: “EV2 is our seventh electric car that we have on sale now. So, almost half of our line-up is now all EV. That’s important from a focus perspective, but also from a volume perspective.

“Year to date, our EV mix is 33%, including the long-range EV2.

“The focus is on electric vehicles, because we know that’s the direction of travel. We got out early compared to many of our competitors with lots of product, and we now have from the EV2 to EV9, so we’ve got a full lineup. If customers are ready for an electric vehicle, we’ve got one to suit.

“Alongside that, we also have our first entry into the electric commercial vehicle market, the PV5, with Cargo and Passenger versions. With the Passenger versions counting towards the car mandate, and all-electric, the van mandate is one target we will definitely achieve!

“After the first nine months of 2026, we are pretty much on track to achieve our ZEV mandate target for this year. That means we don’t have to divert our thinking in the last months of the year to, ‘How are we going to increase our EV mix’’or, ‘we’re going to have to reduce our sales of non-EVs in order to hit the EV mix’.

“Instead, we can keep going with what we’ve been doing, maintaining our EV mix and strengthening it with EV2’s introduction, while continuing to sell non-EVs at the same pace.”

I move on to ask Philpott whether, now that we have a new Prime Minister, he thinks the government’s EV message will change.

Philpott said: “Firstly, having read the ZEV mandate review consultation document that recently came out, from cover to cover, I’m quite encouraged by government’s direction on this.

“They have restated that by 2035, everything must be zero emissions. But the door is open for discussion on the trajectory of mandate targets between 2027 and 2030 – which is what we’ve been asking for.

“The review has been brought forward from 2027 to 2026 and closes on 23rd October. What we’re keen to see is some output from that early next year, as not all the outputs from the review can be from 2028 onwards.

“I’m encouraged by that. I think the Government has restated its intentions and focus on the transition to electric vehicles, but that it must be a realistic transition.

“As far as Vehicle Excise Duty is concerned, with any government, what we want is some collaboration and discussion before things are announced.

“We fully understand the government is worried about reducing tax revenue as we go to zero-emission vehicles, and they’re going to have to make up that tax revenue somewhere. However, they should have introduced a scheme following discussion with industry.

“We could have delivered the message in a more appropriate way, because I think the average consumer thought, ‘they’re going to add another tax on to electric vehicles.’ That seemed counterintuitive to the desired message of pushing electric vehicle sales. It felt like they were now going to penalise EV drivers by taxing them more.

“If we talk about Vehicle Excise Duty in total, and how much it is for the average ICE or hybrid vehicle, this new mechanism is simply a different way of collecting similar amounts for electric vehicles. Then, explain that it’s only going to cost the average driver this much, and the story is told more effectively. So, it’s collaboration and messaging that we want greater alignment on.”

With the production of innovative EVs, such as the new EV2, I ask Paul what the plan is for Kia moving forward.

Philpott said: “We are number two in the car market year-to-date behind Volkswagen, so the focus on the car business is to achieve the progression towards EVs that is required by the ZEV mandate – whether it’s 80% by 2030 or some lower number.

“The important thing now is not to keep trying to grow. The number one priority is to make sure we achieve the right EV mix, while maintaining, as a minimum, our overall volume.

“We must achieve the mandate through to 2030 and then continue that progression through to 2035, when we’ve got to be 100% EV.

“Alongside that, the PV5 van business has outperformed way above our expectations in its first eight months. We’ve just rewritten the plan for the third time, taking the full-year volume this year up to 8,000.

“Demand continues to be strong, and PV5 is only the first of three EV commercial vehicle products that will come between now and the end of the decade, with PV7 and PV9 to follow. That’s where the growth comes from going forward.

“In summary, we need to maintain the current volume, achieve some growth if we can, but our number one priority is to achieve the ZEV mandate car mix. On the commercial vehicle side, it’s a new market for us and a big opportunity. The market must transition to electric vehicles, and we’ve got a great electric vehicle product. We can use that to drive growth.”