Hyundai Motor, Kia see combined overseas EV sales nearly double in Q1

Hyundai Motor Co.‘s Ioniq 5 [Photo provided by Hyundai Motor]

The combined overseas sales of electric vehicles by South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. nearly doubled in the first quarter from a year ago to surpass 100,000 units on the back of strong demand for its flagship EV models.

According to the two automakers on Monday, the combined global EV sales reached 135,499 units in the January-March period, up 49.7 percent from 95,027 units in the same period a year ago.

Domestic sales stood at 39,982 units in the first quarter, up 36.1 percent from a year ago, and overseas sales 104,517 units, up 93.4 percent during the same period.

By model, sales of Hyundai Motor’s flagship Ioniq 5 reached 23,454 units in the first quarter and Kia’s EV6 21,855 units. The overseas sales of Ioniq 5 nearly doubled from 12,423 units. More than 2,000 Ioniq 5 EVs were sold in the U.S. in February and March, respectively, where the EV market is highly competitive.

Kia sold 19,207 Niro EVs and Hyundai Motor 15,010 Ioniq 6 EVs overseas in the first quarter. High-end brand Genesis sold about 3,000 units overseas, including 2,616 GV60s and 477 G80 EVs.

Hyundai Motor Group aims to sell 588,000 EVs globally this year, up by more than 200,000 units from last year’s sales of 371,800 units.

Kia Corp.‘s EV6 [Photo provided by Kia]

Hyundai Motor proposed a sales target of 330,000 EVs this year in a conference call in January while Kia presented a target of 258,000 EV sales during a recent investors’ day event.

The group’s sales targets are expected to be feasible, according to industry insiders, given that the first quarter is considered to be an off-season in the local auto market when sales are low. Demand for EVs also grows after February when the government finalizes the subsidy plan.

Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor Group vowed to spend 24 trillion won ($18.3 billion) in the domestic EV sector by 2030 as it launched Kia’s purpose built vehicle EV factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

Hyundai Motor Group aims to boost annual EV production in Korea to 1.51 million units and global production to 3.64 million units by 2030 to become one of the top three global EV manufacturers by sales.

Kia is expected to expand its EV production base in Korea by gradually transforming its production line in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, to an EV-exclusive facility.

Hyundai Motor also plans to launch construction to build an EV-exclusive factory near its proving ground in the southern coast Ulsan in the second half of the year.