Hyundai, Kia’s eco-friendly car exports upgrade 3% last year

Hyundai Motor and its subsidiary Kia said on Tuesday that their combined exports of eco-friendly vehicles to 2024 rose 3 percent from a year earlier despite the economic slowdown. Hyundai and Kia shipped a total of 707,853 eco-friendly cars last year, up from 687,420 units a year earlier, Hyundai Motor Group said in a press release.
Gasoline hybrid models accounted for 56 percent of eco-friendly car shipments, which offset slowing demand for electric vehicle (EV) models, Yonhap news agency reported. To cope with the EV slowdown, carmakers said they would strengthen their product lineups by adding more fuel-efficient gasoline hybrid models.
They also plan to improve their product mix and adjust vehicle production and inventory this year in the face of high interest rates, low growth, the spread of protectionism and tough competition with rivals.
Hyundai and Kia together form the world’s third-largest automotive group by sales after Toyota Motor and Volkswagen AG. Their total exports fell slightly to 2,180,698 units worth US$53.36 billion from 2,216,231 vehicles last year, with a forecast of US$54.39 billion in 2023, the release said.
Seven of the 10 models exported were sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and the top-selling model was the Avante compact, which is sold overseas as the Elantra. About 56 percent of shipments went to North American markets, 19 percent to Europe and the rest to other markets.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor Group has pledged to invest a record 24.3 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in South Korea this year to boost future competitiveness amid an uncertain global business environment.
According to the group, the annual investment plan represents an increase of more than 19 percent from last year’s domestic investment of 20.4 trillion won.
The group said the decision was made with the belief that continued and stable investment is crucial to overcoming rising uncertainties and securing future growth drivers.

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