Kia’s three-row, battery-electric EV9 has earned high praise from reviewers, testers, and owners. Inside EVs captured the general theme with its review titled, Kia EV9 - Truly Fantastic. This is one of those rare models that comes along every so often that pretty much everyone in the automotive world agrees is a great vehicle to buy and own. That’s why we track it so closely. This week, we learned that the Kia EV will have meaningfully lower MSRPs on two of its five trims, and Kia has held the (very low) price of its entry trim of the EV9 for the new year.
Kia is not alone in successfully navigating the shifting waters of this current trade negotiation period. In April, many brands saw lower average transaction prices.
Let’s not go any further without a look at this pricing chart we created based on Kia’s just-announced pricing for 2026 vs. the prior year’s price levels. To be clear, these are list prices, not final consumer costs. 
As you can see, the price of the base unit is unchanged, and the Wind is also the same for the new model year. The Light SR does have an increase. However, the two “best” trims now cost less. The top trim is $2,000 lower for the new year. In addition to offering lower MSRPs for the new year, the EV9 Nightfall Edition package is offered in 6-passenger and 7-passenger seating configurations as a no-cost option.
Other no-cost improvements to the Kia EV9 line are:
-Nightfall Edition on Land offers design and performance enhancements
-Nightfall Edition on Land offered with both 6-passenger and 7-passenger seating configurations.
Kia Is Not a "Discount Brand”
We reached out to Kia’s George Kennedy, Kia's Product, Lifestyle & Technology Communications Manager, who reinforced what we alluded to in our opening paragraph. The EV9 is a desirable model. George told us:
The reason to opt for a Kia goes well beyond price. Many of our vehicles (including the EV9) boast compelling in-car tech and ADAS features that consumers are looking for. For example, the K4 is a Wards 10 Best for Interiors and UX. Such accolades underscore the work being done to ensure every corner of our diverse lineup is compelling and consumer-centric.
Torque News keeps it real when we report the consumer costs of automobiles. This story reports on Kia’s suggested retail price changes. We looked hard for a flim-flam and could not find one. The Kia Destination charge remains at $1,495 for the new model year. Consumer costs will also include dealer doc fees. Incentives and trade-in costs will also be part of a consumer’s overall purchase cost of an EV9.
So, how did Kia manage to hold the line on most of the EV9’s trims for the new model year in light of all the scary tariffs the lamestream media wants to worry you over? Well, building the EV9 in Georgia was one smart way Kia took action in advance to help trade-war-proof its EV9. Kia America’s headquarters is in Irvine, California, so look for that to eventually change as it has for most smart automakers like Toyota and Tesla, who both bailed out of the high-tax state. Where the car is built and where the major components are created have a large impact on the consumer cost during times of trade negotiations. Kia always planned to in-source the EV9. Like Toyota and Mazda, Kia saw the writing on the wall, and when it introduced this new model to the U.S. market, it opted to build it where it sells it.
Here's what SeungKyu (Sean) Yoon, President and CEO for Kia North America and Kia America, said about in-sourcing the EV9 back before President Trump regained the White House from President Biden.
Today’s launch of the Kia EV9 in Georgia is the latest example of Kia’s commitment to the U.S. market and the state of Georgia. Through Plan S, Kia is poised to be a leader in the e-mobility sector for years to come. Having achieved prestigious accolades such as World Car of the Year, World EV of the Year, and North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, EV9 will be in excellent hands with the team members at Kia Georgia, and their track record for assembling award-winning, world-renowned products speaks for itself.
The first U.S.-built Kia EV9s rolled off the production line on May 30, 2024. Opened on Nov. 16, 2009, Kia Georgia is located on 2,200 acres in West Point, Ga. The plant has an annual capacity of 350,000 vehicles. The plant mass-produces the high-volume trims of the Kia Telluride SUV, Kia Sorento SUV, Sportage SUV, and the all-electric EV9 SUV. In addition to supplying vehicles for the U.S. market, Kia Georgia also exports some of the vehicles produced in the American plant to the Arabian Peninsula.
Does this story jive with what you’ve been told about car price changes? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
John Goreham is a long-standing member of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
Image of Kia EV9 at a Tesla Supercharger courtesy of Kia.
