Japanese automakers move in on Korea's EV market in the U.S.

Industry

Published: 02 May. 2024, 17:24 Updated: 02 May. 2024, 19:31

Japanese automakers move in on Korea's EV market in the U.S.

A Toyota Motor worker makes a car at its manufacturing factory in Indiana. [TOYOTA MOTOR USA]

NEWS IN FOCUS

While Hyundai Motor faces speed bumps in the U.S. market, Japanese brands are on a roll.

Hyundai Motor said Thursday it sold a total of 74,111 cars in the U.S. market in April, down 3.3 percent compared to the same month a year earlier.

Genesis, a luxury brand under Hyundai Motor, sold 5,508 units in April, down 6 percent on year, impacted by slowed sales of the Genesis GV70 SUVs. It's the first time Genesis has seen a monthly year-on-year decrease in sales in 18 months since Oct. 2022.

Kia's U.S. sales dropped 3.6 percent to 65,754 vehicles during the same period.

While Hyundai blamed "declining sales of SUVs" for the weak performance, Japanese brands sold more cars in the United States last month backed by robust sales in hybrids.

Hyundai's Ioniq 5 [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Kia's EV9 [KIA]

Toyota Motor, the world's largest automaker, posted a double-digit increase in U.S. sales in April for the sixth straight month. It sold a total of 211,818 units last month, up 13.7 percent on year.

Honda Motor's sales rose 0.4 percent to 116,586 units, while Subaru's sales were up 10 percent to 55,863.

Their sales expansions are more vivid when considering the total sales this year. Toyota's sales jumped nearly 20 percent on year this year through April, while Honda's sales rose 16 percent. Mazda saw a 9 percent on-year sales increase during the same period.

Japanese auto brands, which have been passive toward EV investment, have recently announced a series of aggressive investment plans in North America.

Honda recently announced it will invest $11 billion in Ontario, Canada, to create "an EV supply hub" with joint venture partners that are yet to be named. The new Canadian venture will include assembly and battery plants as well as other facilities to support the production of all-electric and hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles.

Toyota Motor workers make cars at its manufacturing factory in Kentucky. [TOYOTA MOTOR USA]

A rendered image of Hyundai Motor's EV-dedicated plant in Georgia, which will start operation in October. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

The factory will produce around 240,000 EVs per year, with operations set for 2028.

Toyota said it will invest $1.4 billion in its Indiana plant to build an EV production line. Its three-row SUV, which is under development, will also be produced in Indiana.

The world's No. 1 automaker also poured $1.3 billion into its Kentucky plant to produce EVs there.

Those will boost the number of Toyota's manufacturing sites to 14 in the North American region.

Hyundai and Kia aim to defend their market share with a $5.5 billion EV-dedicated plant in Georgia, which will start production in October. To cover the anticipated growing hybrid demand, Hyundai recently decided to produce hybrids at the Georgia plant.

Meanwhile, Hyundai's eco-friendly car sales posted 16,274 in April, up 26.1 percent on year. They made up 22 percent of total car sales.

Hybrids drove up the strong performance, with Hyundai recording monthly sales of 10,096 hybrids in its first time surpassing the 10,000 mark.

Kia sold 10,715 eco-friendly cars last month, down 9.2 percent on year. Its pure EV sales, however, soared 144.3 percent to 5,045, the first time its monthly sales exceeded the 5,000 mark.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]