Hyundai, Kia have great Q1 in Europe, U.S.

Industry

Published: 23 May. 2022, 16:46 Updated: 23 May. 2022, 17:12

Hyundai, Kia have great Q1 in Europe, U.S.

Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 has been sold out in Korea and the European countries. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor and Kia are doing well in Europe and the United States despite auto chip shortages and rising raw material costs caused by the Russian-Ukraine war.

In the first quarter, Hyundai Motor and Kia together sold 270,000 units in the European market, the third largest among automakers, according to a report by the Korea Automobile Manufacture’s Association (KAMA) released on Sunday.

That's up 21.3 percent on year. During the same period, total car sales in Europe fell 10.6 percent on year to 2.75 million units.

Electric vehicles (EV) such as Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6 contributed to the healthy sales. Other foreign automakers saw sales decline.

Hyundai Motor and Kia combined market share of 9.8 percent in Europe beat Renault Motor's 8.8 percent and followed Volkswagen's 23.8 percent and Stellantis's 19 percent.

BMW came in fifth with 7.3 percent and Toyota sixth with 7.1 percent.

Kia's EV6 has received the 2022 European Car of the Year award, making it the first Korean automobile brand to receive the award. [KIA]

Hyundai Motor and Kia also had good sales in the United States.

Total car sales in the United States declined by 15.8 percent to 3.28 million units due to surging oil prices and a lack of new models. However, Hyundai Motor and Kia’s decline in sales was only 3.7 percent to 320,000 units.

Competitors suffered greater declines.

Toyota’s sales were reduced by 14.7 percent, General Motors by 20.4 percent and Ford by 17.1 percent.

Korean EV sales in the United States also sharply increased by 439 percent to 17,000 in the first quarter due to Ioniq 5 and EV6’s popularity.

In the first quarter, Hyundai Motor and Kia achieved 9.9 percent market share in the United States. Cars made by American brands had the highest market share (43.5 percent) followed by Japanese cars (37.3 percent).

But sales in China were almost in reverse.

Total sales of cars in the first quarter in China rose by 6.2 percent to 6 million units, but sales by Hyundai Motor and Kia plunged by 39.3 percent to 94,000. Sales of automobiles manufactured by American and Japanese countries increased in China during the period, the opposite of Europe and the United States.

For China, 50.1 percent of the domestic demand for automobiles is taken by Chinese brands, followed by Japanese (20.1 percent), European (19.6 percent) and American brands (8.6 percent). Hyundai Motor and Kia’s market share in China declined to 1.6 percent from last year’s 2.4 percent.

“Sales diminished after the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) antimissile system controversy in 2016,” said a spokesperson for KAMA. Hyundai Motor closed down its Plant 1 factory in Beijing.

Hyundai Motor is trying to upgrade its brand in China, focusing on EVs, and expanding its investment in research and development and localization.

BY BAEK MIN-JEONG [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]