Hyundai Motor, Kia's US electric vehicle sales at record-high in October

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group set a historic sales record in the US electric vehicle market, posting its best-ever performance in October.

The automotive group said the combined car sales of Hyundai Motor Co., including its premium Genesis brand, and Kia Corp. in the US reached 125,693 units in October, a 2% increase from the same month of 2022.

This marks the group's best-ever performance for October, with on-year sales growing for the 15th consecutive month. Hyundai Motor saw a 2.4% year-on-year increase, with 66,529 car sales. Kia sold 59,164 units, a 1.5% increase. Genesis, Hyundai's premium brand, recorded a 31.5% sales increase with 5,724 units.

The US market saw strong sales of eco-friendly vehicles last month, including electric cars. Recreational vehicles (RVs), favored by Americans, also performed well. Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 20,834 eco-friendly vehicles in the US, marking a 29% increase from the year-earlier period.

Hyundai posted a 63.6% increase by selling 12,802 eco-friendly vehicles. Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for about a fifth of its total US sales. Kia sold 8,032 eco-friendly vehicles, a 3.5% on-year decrease.

Hyundai and Kia's electric vehicles, in particular, posted a 119% rise despite the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with 7,661 units sold. The two Korean companies bring most of their EVs from Korean plants for sale in the US.

Among the Korean firms' best-selling EV models were the Hyundai IONIQ5 (2,979 units), the Kia EV6 (1,542 units) and the Genesis GV60 (353 units), which increased 88.7%, 30%, and 75.6%, respectively, from a  year ago.

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) also saw a decent 4.2% increase with 13,150 units sold. Specifically, the Hyundai Tucson HEV (3,232 units), the Kia Sportage HEV (2,581 units), the Hyundai Elantra HEV (1,767 units), the Hyundai Santa Fe HEV (1,693 units) and the Niro HEV (1,622 units) were among the top sellers.

The combined sales of Hyundai and Kia RV models reached 93,830 units, or a 5.5% increase, accounting for 74.7% of their total sales. The Hyundai Tucson was the best-selling model with 15,638 units sold, followed by the Santa Fe (9,700 units) and the Elantra (9,456 units).

Kia's best-selling model was the Sportage with 11,053 units sold, followed by the K3 (9,393 units) and the Telluride (8,533 units).

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com