Kia has signed a business agreement with MK Holdings, the operator of MK Taxis in Japan, to expand its purpose-built vehicle (PBV) business in the Japanese market. Kia plans to supply 40 compact electric PV5 vehicles to MK Holdings by the end of this year and increase deliveries to 1,000 units by 2030. Four PV5 vehicles are already operating as MK Taxis in Kyoto, using the CHAdeMO charging standard, which is widely adopted in Japan. Kia, MK Holdings and Kia PBV Japan will also cooperate on exhibitions, test drives, maintenance, technical support, parts supply and locally adapted PBV solutions. MK Holdings plans to use the vehicles for taxis, premium transportation and airport pickups, while Kia PBV Japan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japanese trading company Sojitz, will establish the local sales and service network. The partnership comes as Japan pursues a policy of converting up to 30% of new commercial-vehicle sales for vehicles weighing 8 tons or less to electrified models by 2030.