South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has become the world’s third-largest automaker in terms of sales for the first time last year, boasting global presence after Toyota Group and The Volkswagen Group.

According to investor relations data of each auto manufacturing group on Wednesday, HMG sold 6,845,000 cars globally in 2022, coming in third behind Japan’s Toyota that sold 10,483,000 units and Germany’s Volkswagen that sold 8,481,000 units.

The achievement comes 12 years after HMG ranked No. 5 in 2010 after beating U.S. Ford Motor Co.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance came in fourth with a sales of 6,157,000 units, followed by the U.S. General Motors Co. (5,939,000 units), Stellantis N.V., a merger between the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group (5,839,000 units).

HMG’s global ranking has risen steadily in the last 20 years. It ranked No. 10 in 2000 and became one of the top 5 automakers for the first time in 2010.

HMG managed to go up by one notch in 2020 after long years of staying in fifth place amid fierce industry competition. The automaker fell to No. 5 in 2021 but went up two notches in just one year.

HMG was the only automaker among the top five to post growth in 2022 when the industry struggled with chip supply.

HMG’s sales rose 2.7 percent on year in 2022, which is in contrast to how Toyota’s sales fell 0.1 percent, Volkswagen 1.1 percent, Renault- Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance 14.1 percent, and GM 5.7 percent.

Robust sales was attributed to a rise in demand for its luxury Genesis cars and environmentally-friendly vehicles.

Last year, HMG accounted for 10.8 percent of the U.S. market, the first double-digit figure. It took up 9.4 percent of the European market.

Challenges, however, remain for HMG to retain its No. 3 position this year as demand may slow due to the high interest rate environment, inflation, and exchange rate.

The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act are also factors that pressure HMG to expand local production.

“HMG made a significant leap in global sales,” said Kim Pil-soo, a professor of automotive engineering at Daelim University. “It is tasked to overcome the challenges of economic recession and trade protectionism.”

By Pulse

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]