"Last Year US Electric Vehicle Sales Surge... Hyundai Motor Group Ranks 3rd"

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Last year, the scale of new car sales in the United States fell to the lowest level in 11 years, while electric vehicle sales showed a significant increase. Following Tesla and Ford, the remarkable progress of Hyundai Motor and Kia stood out.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 6th (local time), citing data from market research firm Motor Intelligence, that electric vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2022 increased by about two-thirds compared to the previous year. This contrasts with an estimated 8% decrease in total U.S. vehicle sales during the same period.

Last year, a total of 807,180 electric vehicles were sold in the U.S. The share of electric vehicles in total vehicle sales was 5.8%, nearly doubling from 3.2% in 2021.

Tesla still dominated the market, accounting for 65% of electric vehicle sales in the U.S., although this was a decrease from 72% the previous year. Ford ranked second with a 7.6% share. Hyundai Motor and Kia together recorded a combined market share of 7.1%. On the other hand, General Motors (GM) fell in the rankings due to a temporary halt in sales of the Chevrolet Bolt caused by battery cell defects. Volkswagen and Nissan also saw their shares in the U.S. electric vehicle market decline.

With the future implementation of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), competition in the electric vehicle market is expected to intensify further. The IRA primarily supports buyers of North American-made electric vehicles with a tax credit of up to $7,500.

WSJ anticipated that detailed guidelines allowing leased vehicles to receive up to $7,500 in tax credits even if not assembled in North America would benefit Hyundai Motor. Conversely, Ford and Tesla, whose some models are excluded from subsidy eligibility, are expected to be negatively impacted. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and certain versions of Tesla’s Model Y are classified as passenger cars rather than sport utility vehicles (SUVs), making them ineligible for the tax credit.

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