Hyundai Motor Group Surpasses 30 Million Cumulative Sales in US After 39 Years

Faster Than Toyota's 54 Years and Honda's 47 Years

Hyundai Motor Group has surpassed a cumulative sales milestone of 30 million units in the US market, 39 years after its entry. This record was achieved faster than its direct competitors, Toyota and Honda.

According to Hyundai Motor Group on August 4, Hyundai and Kia sold a cumulative total of 30,107,257 vehicles in the US market as of July this year. By brand, Hyundai sold 17,552,003 units and Kia sold 12,555,254 units. This achievement comes 39 years and 6 months after Hyundai first entered the US market in 1986.

Among non-US brands, Hyundai Motor Group is the third to reach the cumulative 30 million unit sales milestone in the US market. Hyundai Motor Group achieved this record much faster than Japanese brands such as Toyota and Honda. Toyota reached the same milestone in 54 years, while Honda achieved it in 47 years.

Hyundai first entered the US market in 1986 with the export of the compact car 'Excel.' Kia established its US sales subsidiary in 1992 and began exporting its own models, the Sephia and Sportage, in February 1994.

Hyundai Motor Group’s cumulative US sales surpassed 1 million units in the 1990s, 5 million in 2004, 10 million in 2011, and 20 million in 2018. Last year, the group set a new annual sales record with 1.7 million units sold.

This year, Hyundai Motor Group faced unexpected challenges in the US market due to the Trump administration’s 15% tariff on imported vehicles. In response, the group set a goal to increase its market share by boosting local production in the US and maintaining prices as much as possible. The plan is to reduce incentives, increase the proportion of high value-added vehicles such as hybrids and Genesis, and thereby secure profitability.

In its latest second-quarter earnings release, Hyundai stated, "We intend to pursue not only incentive and pricing strategies, and reductions in material and processing costs, but also strategic localization of R&D, production, and quality-related components." The company added, "We will thoroughly review the expansion of local production under various scenarios to ensure flexible responses to the market."