Hyundai Motor, Kia regain top spot in Vietnam's auto market

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. are solidifying their dominance in the Vietnamese car market through the launch of new models and competitive lineups.

Hyundai Motor is in fierce competition with Toyota of Japan for the top spot in Vietnam, Southeast Asia's No. 4 automaker and seller that enjoys booming demand for vehicles in line with the nation's brisk economic growth.

Hyundai Motor and Kia will further raise their influence in the region by aggressively targeting the Vietnamese market.

Hyundai Motor on Wednesday said it sold 22,903 units this year from January to May, more than Toyota's 21,547, to top the Vietnamese market in cumulative sales. In 2017, the South Korean automaker established HTMV, a joint venture plant in the province Ninh Binh with Vietnam’s Thanh Cong Group and entered the market by producing the hatchback Grand i10, mid-size sedan Avante, compact crossover SUV Tucson and SUV Santa Fe.

Hyundai Motor in 2019 sold 79,568 units in Vietnam two years after HTMV's launch, beating Toyota's 79,328 for No. 1, followed by 81,368 in 2020 and 70,518 in 2021. Thus the South Korean carmaker topped sales in Vietnam for three straight years to solidify its position as a top-tier brand.

Last year, however, Hyundai Motor fell to second with 81,582 units, with Toyota regaining the lead with 91,115.

Kia, which entered Vietnam in 2004 through Truong Hai Auto Corp. using the complete knockdown method of vehicle production, also raised its status last year by surpassing 60,000 units in annual sales for the first time. This year's sales through May reached 13,951.

Hyundai Motor and Kia will focus on boosting sales in Vietnam based on strong competitiveness in quality and superior marketability.

"We plan to focus on promotional activities for selling cars made in Vietnam such as the Accent, (subcompact crossover SUV) Creta and Santa Fe, while additionally rolling out new SUV models," a Hyundai Motor source said. "We will launch full-scale production there of the fully electric vehicle (EV) IONIQ 5 from July to aggressively target the Vietnamese EV market."

Write to Il-Gue Kim at black0419@hankyung.com