It may pay to be aloof if you’re looking for an EV6, as Kia is offering dealers money to get rid of old stock
- Kia is giving dealers $1,000 for every 2023 EV6 they sell, and $1,500 for each 2023 EV6 GT they get into a customer’s hands.
- The automaker is also offering dealers $500 for every 2024 EV6 or EV9 they sell.
- That may not translate to a direct discount for customers, but does give dealers some wiggle room to negotiate with buyers who are on the fence.
Kia’s EV sales almost doubled in the first quarter of 2024. However, the Korean automaker aims to further boost sales to clear out old inventory and pave the way for new models. To achieve this, throughout April, the company is incentivizing U.S. dealers with cash for every 2023 EV6 they move off the lot.
The ‘Kia April 2024 Dealer Flat Cash Program’, as it’s called, will provide dealers with $1,000 in cash for every 2023 EV6 a customer drives off the lot. For the high-performance EV6 GT, the amount will be even larger, and dealers stand to gain $1,500 for every example they sell.
Read: Kia’s EV Sales Surge 88% Despite Overall Q1 Decline
The Korean automaker isn’t alone in incentivizing dealers to clear out older inventory. Ford has reintroduced a controversial measure known as stair-step incentives to motivate dealers to move 2023 F-150s off their lots. However, this approach involves dealers meeting specific quotas, with the cash incentives per vehicle increasing if they surpass their targets.
That strategy has faced criticism from dealerships, who argue that it puts them at odds with customers, potentially leading to confusion when salespeople overly push 2023 models. According to CarsDirect , Kia’s scheme appears to be more straightforward, lacking steps or quotas.
However, just because dealers are being offered a flat $1,500 for every 2023 EV6 GT they get off the lot, that doesn’t mean that you should expect a $1,500 discount if you buy one. While the dealer can choose to offer buyers a discount to entice them, it can also keep the money if it feels a price reduction is unnecessary to attract a buyer. So you might want to play hard to get, if you’re looking for a Kia EV.
And that doesn’t just apply to older models. Kia is also extending payments of $500 to dealers for every 2024 model year EV6 and EV9 they sell. Furthermore, the carmaker is sweetening the deal for dealerships with a $250 payment for every plug-in hybrid they move off the lot.
Again, that may not translate directly to a discount for customers, but it could mean that dealers are more willing to offer buyers a good deal, if they play their cards right. And that’s surprising, because prices for Kia’s EVs are already pretty attractive.
Lease deals for the 2024 EV6 are already available for as low as $279 per month. Additionally, Kia is offering discounts of up to $7,500 and 0 percent financing on the EV9.
