Hyundai Motor Group Becomes World's 3rd-largest Automaker 

By Michael Herh, BusinessKorea - Hyundai Motor Group has become the world's third-largest automaker in terms of sales volume. It is 12 years after becoming the world’s fifth-largest automaker. The company's growth was attributed to successful production line management when competitors around the world were struggling due to a shortage of automotive semiconductors. The Korean carmaker plans to solidify its position in the second half of this year.

Hyundai Motor Group sold 3,299,000 units in the domestic and overseas markets in the first half of 2022. The total broke down to 1,879,000 units sold by Hyundai Motor Co. and 1.42 million units sold by Kia Corp. Japan’s Toyota Group came in first with 5,138,000 units, followed by and Germany’s Volkswagen Group with 4,006,000 units.

Hyundai Motor Group was followed by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance with 3.14 million units, Stellantis with 3,019,000 units and General Motors with 2.84 million units. Hyundai Motor Group became the world’s fifth-largest automaker in 2010 by overtaking Ford Motor of the United States. Last year, the Korean automaker sold 6,667,000 units a year, remaining at the same spot. Then, in the first half of this year, it jumped by two notches at once.

Production disruptions at other global automakers due to a semiconductor shortage contributed to Hyundai Motor Group’s rise to third place. In the first half of this year, sales shrank 6 percent for Toyota, 14 percent for Volkswagen, 16 percent for Stellantis, 17.3 percent for Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and 18.6 percent for GM. On the other hand, sales of Hyundai Motor co. and Kia fell only 5.1 percent from the same period last year.

Hyundai Motor Group's rise was also driven by strong sales of the high-end brand Genesis and electric vehicles. The Genesis brand sold 25,668 units in the United States in the first half of this year, setting a new semiannual sales record. Moreover, Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 and Kia’s EV6 sold more than 10,000 units every month, putting the group in second place in the U.S. electric vehicle market behind Tesla.

Hyundai Motor Group predicts that its production will gradually increase for the time being as the supply of semiconductors and other parts is improving. It also plans to increase its market presence by launching a variety of new cars. Hyundai Motor Co.’s first electric sedan, the IONIQ 6, will go on sale in September. In addition, the Santa Fe Hybrid and the Genesis GV70 electric vehicle will begin to roll out from the Alabama plant in the United States in October and December, respectively. Hyundai Motor will intensively promote the two models in the U.S. market. Kia will also release the EV6 GT, a high-performance electric vehicle, in the third quarter. It aims to increase sales of its green cars by 30 percent this year.

Source: www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=98527 

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