Hyundai and Kia positioned second within the US EV market behind Tesla after a report gross sales 12 months in 2023. The Korean automakers surged previous Ford and GM with trendy, practical EVs constructed for the trendy period.

Hyundai and Kia take second in US EV gross sales

In response to Kelley Blue Ebook estimates, a report 1.2 million EVs have been handed over within the US final 12 months.

Tesla remained on prime (by far) with 55% of the share. Though Tesla’s share will inevitably fall as new fashions are launched, value cuts helped bounce again from an all-time low in Q3.

The EV chief captured 4.2% of the entire US market with over 650,000 deliveries, topping Volkswagen, Subaru, and BMW for the primary time. In the meantime, Tesla wasn’t the one firm with report EV gross sales final 12 months.

Hyundai capped off a report 12 months with almost 47,000 IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 EVs bought, whereas Kia bought nearly 19,000 EV6 electrical crossovers. It additionally started delivering its first three-row electrical SUV, the EV9, with 1,113 bought in December.

In response to new analysis from BloombergNEF, the expansion was sufficient for Hyundai and Kia to prime Ford and GM for second in US EV gross sales.

Hyundai and Kia accounted for 8% of passenger EVs bought within the US final 12 months, with round 117,000 handed over.

Though Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, declared that “Ford remained the No. 2 EV model” earlier this month, with Kia and Hyundai mixed, that’s not the case. Ford bought a brand new report of 72,608 EVs within the US in 2023.

In the meantime, GM bought round 72,639 EVs in 2023, with the Chevy Bolt accounting for over 85%. GM ended manufacturing of the reasonably priced electrical automotive because it ramps up output of its Ultium fashions together with the Blazer EV. A brand new Bolt is predicted to be revealed subsequent 12 months.

Electrek’s Take

Though Hyundai and Kia are usually not the identical firm, they share Hyundai’s E-GMP platform. Hyundai additionally owns simply over 30% of Kia and shares many elements inside its community.

The South Korean automakers topped GM and Ford even with out their EVs qualifying for the IRA tax credit score (solely by means of leasing).

A lot of their success is because of constructing EVs from the bottom up. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was the sixth best-selling EV within the US final 12 months. Hyundai and Kia are additionally a few of the solely automakers (exterior of Tesla) providing smaller EVs just like the Kona and Niro.

Not like UAW Ford and GM, which have delayed EV initiatives, Hyundai and Kia are specializing in constructing for the long run.

With devoted EVs, Hyundai additionally ranked second behind Tesla in reducing CO2 emissions and bettering gasoline economic system over the previous a number of years, in accordance with EPA information.

After EV gross sales doubled this 12 months, Hyundai’s international president, Jose Munoz, informed Reuters in November that he’s nonetheless “very bullish” on EV demand. Munoz mentioned, “Primarily based on what I see, I would like extra. If I had extra capability right this moment, I may promote extra automobiles.”