Hyundai, Kia beat Honda to rank 5th in US market

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. kept their fifth place in sales in the US market for the second consecutive year. Despite production setbacks due to semiconductor chip shortages, it succeeded in managing its supply chain well, chasing Stellantis, which was ranked fourth, closely.

Hyundai and Kia said on Thursday that they sold 1,474,224 vehicles in the US last year. Although the figure declined by 1.0% from 2021 (1,489,118), it did quite well given that the total sales volume of new cars across the world decreased by 8% compared to the previous year.

According to Automotive News, General Motors took first place with 2,258,283 cars sold. It is estimated that Toyota (2,108,455) and Ford, which have yet to announce their results, were ranked second and third.

The sales of Stellantis cars were 1,553,485 units, down 12.9% from the previous year. Hyundai and Kia overtook Honda in 2021, followed by closing the gap with Stellantis last year with a slight difference of 79,261 units. Honda sold 983,507 units, down 32.9% from the previous year.

The premium brand Genesis sold 56,410 units, breaking the record for the second straight year in sales in the US. Sales of Hyundai and Kia electric vehicles increased by 196.2% from the previous year to 58,028 units.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com