Hyundai, Kia post record sales in Europe

Korean automakers combine for over 1.1m units sold last year

The Hyundai Tucson (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have set a new record, selling over 1.1 million vehicles in Europe in 2023, the South Korean automakers said Thursday.

According to the announcement, Hyundai Motor sold 534,170 units and Kia sold 572,297 units, up 3.1 percent and 5.4 percent on-year, respectively. Together, the two carmakers’ yearly sales increased by 4.3 percent in comparison to the year before.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association announced that the European Union's car market ended 2023 with a 13.9 percent expansion compared to 2022.

The Korean automakers accounted for an 8.6 percent market share, down 0.8 percent on-year.

The best-selling model for Hyundai Motor was the Tucson, a compact sport utility vehicle that sold 133,685 units. Of this figure, over half sold were either hybrid or plug-in hybrid models. The Kona Electric, a smaller, all-electric SUV, became the most sold EV, selling 32,215 units. Hyundai’s flagship EVs -- the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 -- followed with 23,907 and 10,819 units sold, respectively.

Kia’s annual list of most sold vehicles was not disclosed as the automaker said it plans to update the data from December and release it next week.

The two companies set the previous record when they combined for 1,065,227 units sold in 2019. Last year marked their third consecutive year to have sold over 1 million vehicles in Europe.

“We were able to achieve record sales in the European region as our models gained popularity there,” said a Hyundai Motor Group official.

“We will continue to try to bolster customer satisfaction by developing vehicles that meet our customers’ needs and carrying out marketing activities in the future.”

The automakers announced earlier that they sold 7.3 million vehicles across the globe last year.

By Kan Hyeong-woo(hwkan@heraldcorp.com)