Kia Corporation, founded 1944 in Seoul, is a major global automaker producing passenger vehicles, SUVs, and commercial vehicles. It operates manufacturing facilities across Asia, Europe, and North America, with significant EV expansion underway.
More about Kia
Listed on DJSI World; revenue ~$80B annually.
Founded 1944Head office Seoul, South KoreaStaff ~52,000Revenue ~$73BWebsite ↗
Kia discloses comprehensively but emissions trajectory is broken: Scope 1+2 improved 17%, but Scope 3 dominates at 99% of total and grows with record sales. Net-zero 2045 relies on offsets. A decade-old EPA emissions fraud settlement and obstructive trade association lobbying undercut credibility.
Kia scores 28/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Kia joint 731st of 934 companies scored, and joint 14th of 26 in Automotive.
What is Kia doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Transparency & Accountability (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Energy Source (4/10, 4/10).
Where Kia lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain6/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling4/10No evidence of a year-on-year fall in its total emissions.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies6/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Kia's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Kia's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
67% of them were published by Kia itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Kia compare with other automotive companies?
Where Kia sits among automotive peers.
Among the 26 major automotive brands we've scored, Kia is tied =14th of 26, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Automotive?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Kia.
JLR reports operational emissions reductions and renewable energy progress at UK sites, but critical weaknesses undermine credibility: Scope 3 targets are intensity-based despite 22% sales growth, making absolute emissions reductions unlikely.
See the breakdown →Mercedes-Benz has reduced operational emissions 74% from 2018 but total absolute emissions rose 7.86% in 2024.
See the breakdown →Subaru reports comprehensive emissions data across Scope 1, 2, and 3, but total emissions rose 28% year-on-year while BEV penetration stalled at 1.9% globally against a 2030 target of 50%.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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