Hyundai's 'Carbon Neutrality' Big Picture Faster Than Toyota and Volkswagen

Roadmap for Internal Combustion Engine Phase-Out by 2045 Completed
Genesis to Achieve Full Electrification Earlier, Starting in 2030

Song Hoseong, President of Kia, is presenting Kia's 2045 carbon neutrality strategy online on the 11th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Hyundai Motor Group has completed its carbon neutrality roadmap with Kia. Hyundai Motor Group plans to stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles worldwide by 2045 and achieve complete carbon neutrality. The strategy is to lead the electrification era by completing carbon neutrality faster than global competitors such as Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen.

Kia held an online press conference on the 11th and announced its goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. To this end, from 2035, it will sell only electric vehicles in the European market, and from 2040, it will stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles in major markets such as Korea, the United States, and China. By 2045, this will be expanded globally.

With Kia as the last step, Hyundai Motor Group has completed its carbon neutrality roadmap. Previously, Hyundai Motor announced that it would increase the sales ratio of electrified vehicles to 80% by 2040 and stop selling internal combustion engine vehicles from 2045.

Hyundai's luxury brand, Genesis, is moving faster. Genesis plans to sell only hydrogen electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles for all new cars starting in 2025 and to stop producing and selling internal combustion engine vehicles from 2030.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun introduced Genesis's brand vision last September, stating, "Going forward, the Genesis brand will develop eco-friendly vehicles that can lead competitors," and emphasized, "We will steadily build a solid foundation to strengthen our position in the global luxury car market."

Hyundai's electrification transition is faster compared to major overseas competitors. The world's first and second largest automakers, Toyota and Volkswagen, have not yet disclosed clear dates for stopping internal combustion engine vehicle sales.

They have consistently announced plans to launch electric vehicles but have not set goals for achieving carbon neutrality. This is analyzed to be due to the characteristics of these companies, which have many sales in developing countries such as Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.

In developing countries, the spread of electric vehicle infrastructure is very slow, so a rapid transition to electric vehicles could actually be detrimental to companies. For this reason, China has also delayed the timing of its automotive industry carbon neutrality transition to 2060.

According to the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, of the approximately 10 million electric vehicles distributed worldwide so far, 94% were sold in 12 major markets including the United States, Canada, Korea, China, Japan, and Europe. The automotive markets in other countries still mainly focus on internal combustion engine vehicles.

On the other hand, luxury cars mainly sold in developed markets, such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, are aggressively managing their transition by setting 2030 as the electrification transition point, similar to Genesis.

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