Hyundai Kia Motors Sets Global Sales Target of 7,082,000 Units for This Year

Overseas Demand Plummets Due to COVID-19
Target Revised Downward for Second Consecutive Year

New Models Like Ioniq and Genesis Launched
Domestic Market Target Raised Compared to Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Kia Motors has set its global sales target for this year at around 7.08 million units. Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), last year's sales fell below 7 million units, causing the target to drop to the level of nine years ago.

On the 4th, Hyundai Kia Motors announced its global sales target for this year as 7,082,000 units, marking the second consecutive year of downward revision. By company, Hyundai Motor set its target at 4.16 million units, about 400,000 units lower than the previous year, while Kia Motors set its target at 2.922 million units, similar to last year.

Hyundai Kia Motors had increased its annual global sales target to 8.25 million units by 2017 but lowered it to the mid-7.5 million range starting in 2018 following the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) incident. This year's sales target has been lowered to the level of nine years ago (7 million units in 2012), reflecting the sharp decline in overseas demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

However, by market, confidence in the domestic market, which showed steady demand despite the COVID-19 impact, is reflected in the increased domestic sales targets compared to last year. Hyundai Motor set its domestic sales target for this year at 741,500 units, a 1.3% increase, and Kia Motors at 535,000 units, a 2.8% increase. Early this year, electric vehicles equipped with the dedicated electric vehicle platform 'E-GMP,' such as Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 and Kia Motors' CV, are scheduled to be launched consecutively starting from the domestic market. Recently, the Genesis brand also completed its new car lineup and has continued its upward trend, surpassing 100,000 units in domestic sales last year.

On the other hand, overseas market targets were lowered by 11% for Hyundai Motor to 3,418,500 units and by 2% for Kia Motors to 2,387,000 units compared to the previous year. This is because the resurgence of COVID-19, especially in Europe and emerging markets, makes the overseas market outlook uncertain this year as well. Industry experts expect exports to recover and increase significantly compared to last year, but it will take considerable time to return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Last year, Hyundai Kia Motors' annual global sales were 6.35 million units, down 11% from the previous year. This achievement rate was only 84% of the annual target announced early last year (7.536 million units), resulting in Hyundai Kia Motors failing to meet its sales target for six consecutive years.

Meanwhile, the global sales volume of five domestic car manufacturers (Hyundai, Kia, Renault Samsung, SsangYong, and GM Korea) also fell below the 7 million unit mark last year due to the direct impact of COVID-19. The global sales of Korean cars, which surpassed 9 million units in 2014 during the export boom, regressed to the level of ten years ago last year.

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