Hyundai Motor Group announced an almost 58% rise in global sales of electric vehicles in the first five months of 2020, to 40,182 units from 25,454 in the same period of last year.
The group, comprising the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, attributed the improvement to strong demand in Europe for models such as the Hyundai Kona Electric and Ioniq and the Kia Niro and Soul EV.
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By contrast, Hyundai Motor overall global sales fell by over 26% to 1,288,629 units in the first five months of 2020 while Kia sales were down by almost 15% to 949,860 units.
A company spokesman said “demand for electric vehicles is on the rise in Europe as the European Union strengthens its emissions standards.
“South Korean carmakers are benefiting from rising demand there, helped by local government subsidies for electric vehicles.”
Hyundai plans to strengthen its range of zero emission vehicles next year with a large, battery powered passenger car based on the Concept 45 it displayed at last year’s Frankfurt show plus a new electric crossover vehicle and a battery powered variant of the Genesis G80 luxury saloon.
Kia plans to launch a second generation Niro EV and is also developing a battery powered light commercial vehicle.
Electrified Soul searching, round two
