Hyundai and Kia sold record number of hybrids in 2023

Hyundai and Kia sold a record number of hybrid cars this year driven by advancements in the companies' engine systems.

Hyundai Motor's Grandeur hybrid [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor and Kia made a quick shift to electrification this year, and it paid off: Korea's two largest automakers sold a record high of 767,000 hybrid cars through November of this year, marking an on-year increase of 32 percent.

The brands sold a total of 254,258 cars in Korea alone, which accounted for around 21 percent of their total sales.

Part of that rapid growth can be attributed to Hyundai Motor's long-accumulated engineering skill, which feeds into its current proprietary hybrid systems.

Hyundai and Kia became the first automakers to develop cars based on a full parallel hybrid architecture, in which both a vehicle's electric motor and internal combustion engine are connected to its transmission, with the release of the Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5 hybrids in 2011. Most of today's hybrid vehicles are parallel hybrids.

Kia's new Carnival hybrid [KIA]

The engine has been key to Hyundai Motors' mechanical engineering for the past few decades. The company developed the Alpha engine, Korea's first domestically produced auto engine, in 1991.

Both companies' cars were quite successful overseas this year, outperforming models from hybrid powerhouses like Japan. Its Kona hybrid beat the Toyota Corolla hybrid in an evaluation that Auto Bild, a German auto magazine, released in October. Kia's Sportage hybrid beat Toyota's RAV4.

Hyundai plans to introduce a new model in 2025 that will connect a new hybrid system with a high-performance engine.

“Hyundai and Kia will actively respond to growing hybrid car demand, while the auto industry is shifting to electrification at rapid speed,” the company said in a statement.

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