Overseas Shipments and Domestic Sales Soar, Auto Stocks Race Ahead

From the 22nd of last month to the day before yesterday, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor stock prices rose by 15% and 22%, respectively

Genesis GV80 by Hyundai Motor Company (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Geum Bo-ryeong] Automobile stocks have started to soar, fueled by the recovery in automobile demand.

According to Shinhan Financial Investment on the 4th, domestic wholesale sales excluding imported cars reached 146,000 units last month, up 9.3% compared to the previous year. Overseas shipments were 104,000 units for Hyundai Motor and 50,000 units for Kia Motors, which represent decreases of 53.5% and 53.2% respectively compared to the same period last year. However, compared to April, Hyundai Motor increased by 81.1% and Kia Motors by 15.9%. This indicates that overseas demand is returning to a recovery trend.

In the case of Hyundai Motor, the Genesis brand played a significant role. The combined sales volume of the Genesis brand exceeded 10,000 units in April thanks to the strong performance of the new G80 and GV80 models, and recorded 13,000 units last month. This accounted for 18% of Hyundai Motor’s domestic sales and 9% of domestic sales excluding imported cars. Researcher Jeong Yong-jin of Shinhan Financial Investment analyzed, "The gradual recovery of demand in the US and Europe following Korea and China adds to expectations for normalization of the automobile market," and "With the rebound in overseas demand, improvements in domestic factory operating rates and export expansion are expected."

Kia Motors’ domestic sales reached 51,000 units, a 19% increase compared to the previous year. Especially, with the success of the new Sorento, the SUV segment accounted for a high proportion of 47%.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors also saw their market shares rise in the US last month. Hyundai Motor’s market share improved by 1 percentage point year-on-year to 5.3%, and Kia Motors increased by 0.3 percentage points to 4.1%. Around mid-last month, about 50 US states began reopening their economies, which is understood to have led to the reopening of automobile manufacturing plants and dealerships. Researcher Lee Sang-hyun of IBK Investment & Securities explained, "Although variables such as riots occurred this month in the US, the trend of mitigating sales declines due to economic reopening is expected to continue."

Reflecting these expectations, stock prices are on the rise. While the KOSPI index rose 8.98% from 1970.13 on the 22nd of last month to 2147.00 the day before, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors increased by 14.81% and 22.26%, respectively.

Kia's Sorento (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

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