One in Four New Car Sales Are Eco-Friendly

New Car Registrations 23% Hybrid + Electric
Nearly 10%P Increase Compared to Same Period Last Year
Semiconductor Shortage Causes Up to 1-Year Delivery Wait

Hyundai Ioniq (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Last month, one out of every four new cars sold in the domestic automobile market was an eco-friendly vehicle. Centered on electric vehicles introduced this year, such as Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 and Kia's EV6, eco-friendly cars have rapidly surged, pushing their share in the overall domestic market to an all-time high. Although preference for eco-friendly vehicles is increasing, production disruptions and delivery delays caused by the global shortage of automotive semiconductors have become commonplace, making these cars literally "sold out due to lack of supply."

According to the Kaizyu Data Research Institute on the 6th, the proportion of eco-friendly vehicles (hybrid and electric) among new car registrations in the domestic market last month was approximately 23% (27,277 units). Including hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) models such as Nexo, it means that effectively one out of every four vehicles sold in the domestic market was eco-friendly.

Breaking down by fuel type, sales of internal combustion engine vehicles, which have traditionally dominated the completed car market?gasoline (-27.0%), diesel (-55.2%), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, -15.3%)?showed double-digit declines compared to the same month last year. In contrast, hybrid vehicles increased by 1.8% year-on-year to 16,244 units, and electric vehicles surged by a remarkable 67.8% to 11,033 units. Compared to August, registrations of these two types rose by 15.3% and 5.1%, respectively, contrasting with the declining gasoline (-7.5%) and diesel (-17.8%) vehicle registrations.

Until September last year, the share of eco-friendly vehicles remained at around 13.2%. However, this year, Hyundai Motor and Kia declared the "first year of electrification," consecutively launching dedicated electric vehicle models such as the Ioniq 5 and EV6, and strengthening their eco-friendly lineups, resulting in an increase of nearly 10 percentage points in the share of eco-friendly vehicles.

The problem is that despite aggressive launches and strong demand, production and delivery are facing difficulties due to semiconductor supply disruptions caused by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant. For example, Kia's first dedicated electric vehicle model, the EV6, is reportedly only available for production next year even if ordered now. The Kia Sorento Hybrid (HEV) model also requires a wait of about 11 months from order to delivery.

An industry insider stated, "The semiconductor supply shortage is expected to continue for the next 2 to 3 years according to the overall industry assessment, and with electrification and autonomous driving, demand for automotive semiconductors will inevitably increase, making tight supply unavoidable for the time being."

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