Hyundai, Kia's eco-friendly car exports rise 3% last year

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia said on Tuesday their combined exports of environmentally friendly vehicles climbed 3 per cent in 2024 from a year earlier despite an economic slowdown.

Hyundai and Kia shipped a total of 707,853 eco-friendly cars last year, up from 687,420 units a year ago, Hyundai Motor Group said in a press release.

Gasoline hybrid models accounted for 56 percent of the eco-friendly car shipments, offsetting a slowing demand for electric vehicle (EV) models, it said, reports onhap news agency.

To ride out the EV slowdown, the carmakers said they will 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 inventories in the face of high interest rates, low growth, spread of protectionism and tougher competition with rivals this year.

Hyundai and Kia together form the world's third-largest automotive group by sales after Toyota Motor and Volkswagen AG.

Their overall exports slightly fell to 2,180,698 units worth US$53.36 billion last year from 2,216,231 vehicles worth $54.39 billion in 2023, the release said.

Seven out of 10 exported models were sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and the best-selling model was the Avante compact, which is sold as Elantra overseas.

Nearly 56 per cent of the shipments went to North American markets, with 19 per cent shipped to Europe and the remainder 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 bolster future competitiveness amid uncertain global business environments.

The annual investment plan represents a more than 19 percent increase from last year's domestic investment of 20.4 trillion won, according to the group.

The decision was made under the belief that consistent and stable investment is critical to overcoming growing uncertainties and securing future growth drivers, the group said.