Hyundai Motor operating profit slips 20% in 2025 in wake of U.S. tariffs

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Hyundai Motor operating profit slips 20% in 2025 in wake of U.S. tariffs

Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 15:14 Updated: 29 Jan. 2026, 18:19

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

This photo, provided by Hyundai Motor Group, shows the company's headquarters in southern Seoul. [YONHAP]

Hyundai Motor's operating profit slipped almost 20 percent to 11.5 trillion won ($8 billion) in 2025, hit hard by U.S. tariffs, though its yearly revenue posted a new high.

Tariff costs absorbed by the automaker shaved 4.1 trillion won off Hyundai’s profits last year, after 25 percent duties were imposed in April, subsequently lowered to 15 percent in November. Combining its sister company Kia, tariff payments cut 7.2 trillion won from the profits of the two largest Korean automakers.

Hyundai and Kia said that they have refused to raise prices in a bid to protect their market share, instead absorbing the full loss from the tariffs.

Hyundai's yearly operating profit fell 19.5 percent from 2024, while the operating margin fell to 6.2 percent from 8.1 percent a year earlier.

Yearly revenue hit a record high of 186.3 trillion won, up 6.3 percent on year, thanks to strong U.S. sales, especially the high-margin cars, including SUVs and Genesis models.

Net profit slid 21.7 percent to 10.4 trillion won.

“The tariff impact for 2025 is estimated at roughly 4.1 trillion won, with a similar level expected in 2026,” said Lee Seung-jo, executive vice president of Hyundai's planning and finance division, during a conference call Thursday.

“In 2025, about 60 percent of the tariff burden was offset through contingency measures,” Lee said. “Because our 2026 business plan was formulated based on those savings assumptions, we expect a comparable level of cost mitigation to continue into next year.”

Boston Dynamics appears on stage with the ATLAS prototype robot during a press conference at the 2026 International CES, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, January 5. [UPI/ YONHAP]

Hyundai's total global sales stood at 4.14 million units in 2025, down 0.1 percent. However, sales of eco-friendly vehicles rose 27 percent, including 275,669 EVs and 634,990 hybrid cars.

Though overseas sales dipped 0.3 percent to 3.43 million units, U.S. sales rose 1.9 percent to surpass 1 million units. It's the first time Hyundai's annual U.S. sales have exceeded 1 million.

In Korea, its sales rose 1.1 percent to 712,954 units.

Regarding the deployment timeline for the humanoid robot Atlas, Lee said the robot has already been "deployed at Hyundai’s EV plant in Georgia for a proof of concept."

As for an autonomous-driving demonstration vehicle, "it remains under development and could be unveiled as early as the second half of this year," Lee added.

Hyundai Motor predicted an increasingly unpredictable business environment this year, citing slowing growth across major global markets, intensifying competition in emerging economies and heightened macroeconomic uncertainty.

The automaker has set its global wholesale sales target for the year at 4.16 million units.

It also gave details of investment plans for 2026 totalling 17.8 trillion won to strengthen its long-term competitiveness. The investment includes 7.4 trillion won in research and development, 9 trillion won in capital expenditures and 1.4 trillion won in strategic investments, with a focus on the development of eco-friendly vehicles — including hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles — as well as autonomous driving and AI.

Update, Jan. 29, 2026: More details about Hyundai's 2025 performance added.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]