South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and its sibling Kia Motors Corp. have made big strides in EV exports this year despite the overall gloom from Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the automakers on Thursday, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors shipped out combined 98,505 units of EVs from January to October, up 71.3 percent against the same period last year.

Exports of Hyundai Kona jumped 53.7 percent on year to 41,384 units, while those of Kia Niro soared 210.5 percent to 38,299 units. Shipments of Kia Soul climbed 50.4 percent to 8,244 units.

Hyundai Ioniq, however, saw a 17.2 percent fall with exports of 10,578 units ahead of the launch of standalone Ioniq EV brand next year.

In October alone, Hyundai and Kia exported total 12,740 EVs, up 39.7 percent on year. Kia Niro’s outbound shipments soared 202.5 percent to 5,224 units, and Hyundai Kona up 47.6 percent to 5,767 units. Kia Soul shipments dropped 5.9 percent to 897 units, and Hyundai Ioniq down 66.4 percent to 852 units.

Most of deliveries headed to the European Union under stricter environmental regulations and generous green car subsidy policies. The EU fleet-wide average emission target for new cars has been capped to 95-gram carbon dioxide per kilometer from 2021.

EV exports to the EU totaled 72,392 units this year, or the lion’s share of 70.3 percent of total EV sales, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. On the back of the robust demand, Hyundai and Kia claimed a 7 percent share in the global EV market in the third quarter to rank fifth after Tesla, Volkswagen, Renault-Nissan and SAIC Motor.

Hyundai and Kia pin high hope on their new releases built on self-developed EV-dedicated platform E-GMP for next year including Hyundai Ioniq 5, JW under Genesis brand, and Kia CV.

Hyundai Motor shares fell 0.56 percent to 178,500 won ($167.36) in Seoul at 11:04 a.m. Thursday, and Kia Motors down 1.53 percent to 58,100 won.

By Pulse

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