Hyundai Motor and Kia Accelerate Domestic Sales of Eco-Friendly SUVs... Boost Overseas Sales as Well

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, which have been consecutively launching eco-friendly sport utility vehicles (SUVs) such as the Ioniq 5 and EV6 this year, sold more than twice as many eco-friendly SUVs domestically compared to last year.

Hyundai and Kia plan to expand their lineups as they are seeing significant benefits from new models, driven by the preference for eco-friendly cars and SUVs in major markets including North America.

According to industry sources on the 26th, Hyundai and Kia's domestic sales of eco-friendly SUVs from January to August this year recorded 74,099 units, an 81.4% increase compared to the previous year.

The increase in Hyundai and Kia's eco-friendly SUV sales domestically is primarily attributed to the successive launches of dedicated electric vehicles and hybrid models.

Last year, Hyundai only sold the Kona EV, Kona Hybrid, and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle Nexo, but this year, hybrid models were added to the Tucson and Santa Fe, and the dedicated electric vehicle Ioniq 5 was launched.

On the 1st, a Kia electric vehicle 'EV6' real car exhibition event was held at Cosiety in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The EV6 GT model, scheduled to be released next year, is on display. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Kia similarly expanded its eco-friendly vehicle lineup this year by adding the dedicated electric vehicle EV6 and the Sportage Hybrid.

Hyundai plans to further expand its electric vehicle lineup by launching the Genesis brand electric vehicle GV60 and the Ioniq 6 soon, while Kia will release the EV6 GT next year.

In particular, the Ioniq 5, launched in April this year, led Hyundai's eco-friendly SUV sales with a cumulative 12,484 units sold domestically as of last month. Kia's Sorento Hybrid sold 22,684 units, and the EV6, released last month, sold 1,910 units.

In the United States, a major overseas market for Hyundai and Kia, eco-friendly vehicle sales from January to August this year increased by 192.6% to 69,446 units. By model, excluding the compact hatchback Ioniq (old model) Hybrid (12,316 units), eco-friendly SUVs such as the Niro Hybrid (11,840 units), Tucson Hybrid (8,686 units), Sorento Hybrid (5,296 units), and Santa Fe Hybrid (4,730 units) maintained steady sales.

To increase demand for eco-friendly vehicles in the U.S., Hyundai plans to launch the Ioniq 5 in the U.S. by the end of this year, and Kia intends to introduce the EV6 next year.

Hyundai and Kia, which surpassed a 10% market share in Europe for the first time last month, plan to accelerate sales of eco-friendly SUVs. The EV6, set to be released next month, achieved 7,300 pre-orders in 20 European countries during its pre-order period in April. Recently, major automotive media outlets in key car-producing countries such as the UK and Germany have praised the EV6 for its faster charging speed and performance compared to Tesla.

In India, where Hyundai and Kia have risen to second place in market share thanks to sales of small and compact internal combustion engine SUVs, they plan to launch the Ioniq 5 and EV6 next year. Hyundai's Kona EV facelift model and Kia's Niro EV (locally named e-Niro) will also be introduced sequentially in 2022 and 2023.

Although Hyundai's electric vehicle sales in India have been at the level of several hundred units annually in recent years, the industry expects sales to increase as the local government recently introduced policies providing incentives for purchasing eco-friendly vehicles.