April 'Corona Shock' Intensifies... Hyundai Kia Europe Sales Plunge 79.3%

Hyundai Kia Motors Sold 18,809 Units in Europe in April
Total European Car Sales Plummet 78.3% Year-on-Year

Kia Ceed (Photo by Kia)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Last month, Hyundai Kia Motors' sales in the European market plummeted by nearly 80% compared to the previous year. The spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Europe dealt a direct blow to new car sales.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) on the 20th, Hyundai Kia Motors sold a total of 18,809 units in the European market last April. This is a 79.3% sharp decline compared to the same period last year. Hyundai sold 9,131 units, and Kia sold 9,678 units, decreasing by 80.7% and 77.9% respectively compared to the same period last year.

Last month, the European automobile market experienced a sharp drop in sales due to the impact of COVID-19. The April sales performance in the European market recorded only 292,182 units, down 78.3% from the previous year. Jaguar Land Rover Group (-88.6%), Honda (-88.5%), FCA Group (-87.7%), Nissan (-86.2%), PSA Group (-82.4%), and Ford (-80.7%) all saw sales drop by more than 80%. In addition, Toyota Group (-79.6%), Renault Group (-79.5%), and Volkswagen Group (-75.0%) also experienced significant declines in sales performance.

Hyundai Kia Motors' market share in Europe fell to 6.4%, down from 6.8% in the same period last year. While Kia maintained a market share of around 3.3%, Hyundai's share dropped from 3.5% in April last year to 3.1% last month.

Hyundai Kia Motors was evaluated to have performed relatively well in Europe in the first quarter, when the impact of COVID-19 began, selling 221,889 units, down 18.8% compared to the same period last year. During this period, the market share in Europe also rose to 7.3%. However, it seems unable to avoid the shockwave of COVID-19 that intensified in April.

By model, Hyundai's Kona was the best-selling with 2,314 units (including 426 HEV and 1,050 EV), followed by the i20 with 1,692 units, i30 with 1,497 units, and Tucson with 1,393 units. For Kia, the European strategic model Ceed was the top-selling model with 3,293 units. It was followed by the Niro and Sportage, which sold 1,770 and 1,028 units respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.