Hyundai Kia Motors Achieves Top 5 Position in Global Electric Vehicle Market

Sustained Growth with 4th Place in EV and 5th Place in PHEV

Niro EV (Photo by Kia Motors)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Hyundai Kia Motors has entered the global electric vehicle market top 5 rankings for the period from January to August this year. While traditional leaders such as Tesla maintain their leading positions, Hyundai Kia continued its growth by entering the 'Top 5' in both the pure electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) segments.

According to market research firm SNE Research on the 19th, Hyundai Kia sold 74,000 electric vehicles in 77 countries worldwide from January to August this year, a 35.1% increase compared to the same period last year. As a result, the ranking of electric vehicle sales groups rose two places from 6th last year to 4th this year. Its market share also increased by 2.7 percentage points from the previous year to 7.7%. It is analyzed that strong sales were driven by the popularity of Kia Niro EV and Hyundai Porter2 Electric trucks.

During this period, Tesla (236,000 units), Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (97,000 units), and Volkswagen Group (89,000 units) occupied the top ranks. Tesla’s overall sales increased by 10.9% year-on-year, supported by increased sales of the China-made Model 3. Volkswagen Group’s growth was also notable. Thanks to the popularity of the Audi e-tron EV and Porsche Taycan EV, sales more than doubled compared to the same period last year. PSA also experienced rapid growth, increasing sales by 8.3 times due to strong sales of the Peugeot e-208 and Opel Corsa, jumping to 7th place overall.

Chinese companies BYD Group, Zhanghua Automobile Group, and Beijing Automobile Group suffered setbacks due to a contraction in their domestic markets in the first half of the year. BYD Group sold 119,000 units by August last year, but this year sales halved to 51,000 units. Zhanghua Automobile Group and Beijing Automobile Group also saw electric vehicle sales drop to about half of last year’s levels.

In the PHEV segment, Hyundai Kia led with the Seed PHEV, selling 32,000 units, a 12.9% increase year-on-year. In the overall PHEV sales ranking, Hyundai Kia surpassed Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and Toyota Group to rank 5th.

Volkswagen Group emerged as the strongest player in the PHEV market, showing more than triple growth with models such as the Volkswagen Passat GTE and Audi Q5 and A3. Daimler rose four places to 4th, supported by strong sales of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and C-Class this year. Sales, which were around 17,000 units last year, surged to 45,000 units, more than doubling. PSA, which showed impressive growth in the electric vehicle market, also sold a total of 26,000 units in the PHEV segment, entering the 'Top 10' for the first time in history.

An SNE Research official stated, "Hyundai Kia is steadily increasing sales as the European market performs well and the US and Chinese markets are also recovering in earnest, solidifying its position in the global electric vehicle market." They added, "As growth in major global markets is expected to continue, Hyundai Kia’s status as an EV and PHEV group will be further strengthened."

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