Autocar notebook: Kia pick ups and Cupra partnerships

Our render shows how a Kia pick-up truck could look

What can we expect from Kia's upcoming pick ups, and could Cupra work with Porsche?

In this week's run through the notebook, we delve into Kia's plans for a pair of radical electric trucks and find out if Cupra and Porsche could ever work together on a performance EV. 

*P-p-p-p pick up a Kia*

Keen readers might remember Kia design boss Karim Habib telling Autocar at last year’s Los Angeles motor show that if given the opportunity to design a pick-up truck, he “would welcome it with open arms”.

Dreams come true, it would seem, because Kia has now confirmed a pair of pick-ups will be included in the slew of 14 new EVs that it will introduce by 2027. One is a bespoke electric truck, the other a “strategic model for emerging markets”.

Both will no doubt look as outlandish as the EV9 SUV concept, but neither is confirmed for the UK.

Our advice? Start badgering your local dealer now to help our chances. Kia has also confirmed a hot GT version of all future EVs, so there’s another incentive…

*Collaborate to accelerate*

Cupra intends to distance itself within the Volkswagen Group through daring styling and sporty performance, but its first EV, the Born, is only subtly different from the Volkswagen ID 3.

So we had to ask CEO Wayne Griffiths: could you ever imagine a Cupra EV that uses a Porsche-developed platform, like the PPE?

“We’re a very sporty brand, so sporty solutions are good for us,” he acknowledged, adding that Cupra must go a “step further” than rebadging other Volkswagen Group products.

A Cupra-Porsche tie-up, though? Unlikely.

“I have to admit I like the Porsche idea,” he chuckled, “but it was your idea, not mine. Don’t say it was mine.”