Seoul: Hyundai Motor Group’s accumulated electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States exceeded 100,000 units last month, industry sources said on Monday.
Hyundai Motor, its independent Genesis brand and Hyundai’s smaller affiliate Kia Corp. had sold a cumulative 104,326 EVs in the U.S. market as of the end of January, an industry official with direct knowledge of sales data said by phone.
The three brands achieved EV sales exceeding 100,000 units in the US in eight years after it advanced to the world’s most important automobile market with the Kia Soul EV in 2014, reports Yonhap news agency.
Strong demand for the Hyundai IONIQ 5, the Kia EV6 and the Genesis GV60 drove the auto group’s EV sales in the U.S. to nearly triple to 58,028 units in 2022 from 19,590 the previous year, he said.
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 and the Kia EV6 are equipped with the Korean automotive group’s EV-dedicated platform called E-GMP.
The three brands are targeting to sell a total of 131,000 EVs in 2023, more than doubling from their 2022 sales, the official said.
The group plans to launch the Hyundai IONIQ 6, the Kia EV9 and the Genesis GV70 all-electric model in the U.S. this year.
Last month, the group said it will accelerate a wider transition to EVs this year, as it aims to morph into a future mobility solutions provider.
The group’s Executive Chair Euisun Chung said the company will gain a bigger share in the global EV market and generate a new growth driver in autonomous driving, future mobility and robotics in 2023.
But the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) remain major worries for the group’s sales in the U.S. this year.
The IRA excludes EVs built outside North America from tax credits. The new law is widely expected to deal a blow to Hyundai and Kia, as they produce their EVs at domestic plants for export to the US.
–IANS