In 2021, Hyundai Motor, which will rank as the fourth largest automaker in terms of sales in the world, surpassed its rivals this year and became the third largest automaker in the world, only behind Toyota and Volkswagen. For Toyota, which has dominated for a long time, I am afraid that it needs more attention than Tesla opponent.
In the global car sales list, Toyota has been in the leading group for a long time, and it has maintained its sales champion position for the past three years, steadily surpassing Volkswagen. However, in the second group, there has been a silent change. South Korea’s Hyundai Group has quietly surpassed Honda, GM, and Stellantis And other established automakers have made further progress this year, surpassing Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Group to become the world’s third largest auto group.
There are three brands of Hyundai Motor, including Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, which have been cultivated in the past few years and shine this year. Although compared with 2021, the annual sales growth is only 1.2%, but global automakers are affected by supply chain problems, and the number of vehicles delivered has declined. Maintaining a slight growth is enough for them to overtake their competitors.
From the perspective of the top three groups, Toyota is still strong, but invests less in research and development of electric vehicles; Volkswagen actively promotes electric vehicles, but overall sales have declined. Hyundai Group also vigorously develops electric vehicles, but continues to maintain its growth momentum. Due to the good sales of electric vehicles and higher pricing, Hyundai’s revenue this year is expected to increase by 21%. Best performing group of depots.
▲ Hyundai IONIQ 5 has sold 88,000 units worldwide this year.
“We are on the right path, and this year’s performance is very strong,” said Jaehoon Chang, CEO of Hyundai Group. Flexible and flexible supply chain management is the key. Adjustment to maintain production capacity unchanged.
Many people may still think that Korean cars are only bought by South Koreans. In fact, this year, Hyundai Group’s sales in the US market accounted for 21% of the group’s sales, and the revenue contributed by the South Korean home market was only 17%.
On the way to the global market, electric vehicles are undoubtedly an important driver. Car models using the pure electric platform E-GMP, including Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6, have been well received all over the world. The cumulative global sales of the two cars will be regarding 110,000 in 2022. The IONIQ 6, which was only launched in October, has almost sold out in seconds. It won’t be sold in the U.S. until 2023 following finishing 4,000.
A step ahead of the layout of modern electric vehicles
Hyundai and the high-end brand Genesis are scheduled to launch 17 models of pure electric vehicles by 2030, while Kia has 14 models. The goal is to reach the global sales target of 1.87 million pure electric vehicles in 2030, which is estimated to be 7% of global new car sales at that time.
Assuming that the growth momentum of electric vehicles remains unchanged, Toyota currently does not have enough competitors to compete with modern electric vehicles. At least for three years, Toyota may not be able to get a share of the mid-priced electric vehicle market. In 2022, Toyota’s sales of pure electric vehicles will barely More than 10,000 vehicles, which may allow Hyundai to further narrow the gap between the two sides.
▲ Hyundai Group’s sales in November increased by 10.7% globally.
However, the road ahead for Hyundai is not smooth, and it will face three major difficulties in 2023. The St. Petersburg factory in Russia is an important production capacity with an annual output of 200,000 vehicles. However, it has not yet decided when or whether to resume work following the Russo-Ukraine War has been suspended.
At the same time, the world’s largest electric vehicle market is in China, but the Chinese market is not friendly to Hyundai. At the same time, the overall auto sales market is also facing recession, and it is not easy to increase sales momentum for Hyundai.
Finally, the newly promulgated anti-inflation bill in the United States has strict requirements on the source of electric vehicle parts. Electric vehicles that are not produced in the United States cannot receive government subsidies. However, currently Hyundai does not have any North American factories capable of producing electric vehicles. Although it has considered investing in electric vehicle and battery factories in Georgia, before that, Hyundai can only negotiate with the South Korean government and the United States to gain more time.
(Image source: Hyundai Motor)
