Korean carmakers to bolster lineups with EVs, hydrogen models

Hyundai Motor Co. and other South Korean carmakers will release various types of new models ranging from hybrid sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and electric trucks to revamped combustion engine cars in 2025 to cope with the slowdown in domestic demand and prolonged EV chasm.

Hyundai Motor, the country’s largest carmaker, will begin mass production of the hybrid variant of the Palisade, its flagship three-row SUV, this month, according to automobile industry sources on Wednesday.

Equipped with a 2.5-liter turbo engine and electric motor, it is Hyundai’s first hybrid SUV model.

It will also receive pre-orders for the IONIQ 9, its first large electric SUV, in the second half of this year. Hyundai premiered the vehicle in Los Angeles in November 2024.

The Initium, a second-generation model of the hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle Nexo, will be mass-produced from the first half of this year.

Around March, Kia Corp.'s first-ever truck, the Kia Tasman, will hit the domestic market.

Since it was unveiled in Saudi Arabia in 2024, pre-orders for the pickup truck have surpassed 20,000 units in Australia. It competes with the Toyota Hilux, the Ford Ranger and the Nissan Frontier.

Kia is scheduled to release its mid-size electric sedan EV4 and the compact SUV EV5 this year. These will beef up Kia’s EV lineup, including the compact electric SUV EV3 and its first-ever all-electric SUV EV6.

Hyundai’s standalone premium brand Genesis will receive pre-orders for the GV90, its first full-size electric SUV, around the end of this year.

The GV60 Magma, the first high-performance electric model under the Genesis brand, is scheduled for a debut in Korea this year. Its concept was unveiled in New York last year.

KG Mobility Corp., formerly Ssangyong Motor, will launch the electric pickup truck O100. It is based on the mid-size electric SUV Torres EVX that garnered attention in 2024. The O100 will be powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries supplied by China’s BYD.

Renault Korea will roll out the Scenic E-Tech, its new all-electric SUV, in South Korea this year. The model was named The European Car of the Year 2024 at the Geneva Motor Show.

GM Korea, a unit of General Motors Co., is slated to churn out the Equinox EV in the country in the second half of this year. The small-size electric SUV debuted in the US in 2024.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.