Hyundai Motor, Kia rank fifth in global electric vehicle sales

South Korea’s two largest automakers, Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., ranked fifth in terms of electric vehicle sales, which posted triple-digit growth last year.

According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA) on Tuesday, a total of 6.66 million electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, were sold globally in 2021, up 111% from the previous year.

EV sales growth accelerated from an 8.7% on-year rise in 2019 to an increase of 55.1% in 2020 and a twofold gain last year as global automakers were strengthening their electrified portfolios to meet the growing demand for eco-friendly vehicles.

The ratio of EVs versus all vehicles sold worldwide also rose from 2.2% in 2019 to 3.9% in 2020 and 7.9% in 2021, according to KAMA.

By region, China was the world’s largest EV market with 3.33 million units, or half of all global EV sales, followed by Europe with 2.33 million cars and North America with 761,242 units.

Electric vehicle sales in Korea more than doubled to 128,629 units in 2021.

Tesla Inc. was the top EV seller with 1.04 million units, led by the Model 3 and the Model Y compact crossover.

Volkswagen came in second with 709,030 cars, followed by China’s BYD Co., which sold 595,089 units. General Motors Co. ranked fourth with sales of 515,584 units.

Hyundai Motor and Kia, the two automaking units of Hyundai Motor Group, sold a combined 348,783 units last year, up 98.1% from the previous year.

With the sales volume, the two sister firms’ combined EV market share went up by one notch to fifth, largely boosted by Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 crossover and Kia’s EV6 – the conglomerate’s two latest electric vehicles built on the group’s proprietary Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP).

NVH KOREA JOINES ‘1 TRILLION WON SALES CLUB’

Meanwhile, the growing adoption of electric vehicles worldwide has boosted sales of auto parts makers.

NVH Korea Inc., which specializes in the manufacturing of noise and vibration reduction materials used in cars, joined the “one trillion won revenue club” last year.

According to regulatory filings, the company’s sales reached 1.07 trillion won ($876 million) in 2021, up 11.4% from the previous year. Operating profit doubled to 42.8 billion won.

NVH Korea, a maker of noise absorption components such as headlining, in-car floor carpets and sound insulation materials, is a key supplier to Hyundai Motor and Kia.

NVH Korea supplies half of the two automakers’ noise reduction components for their vehicles, including the premium Genesis G80, GV70 and GV80 models, sold globally.

“We expect to receive orders for new Hyundai and Kia models under development,” said NVH Korea Chairman and Chief Executive Koo Jakyum.

In recent years, the company also began assembling battery module packs for the IONIQ 5 and five other EVs on behalf of Hyundai Mobis Co., an auto parts subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group.

Founded as Ilyang Industries Co. in 1984, NVH Korea merged with Insan Corp. and Woochang Industries Co. in the following years to become an auto parts specialist.

Write to Han-Shin Park and Jin-Won Kim at phs@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.