Hyundai Motor Group said on the 3rd that it sold 146,137 vehicles in the United States in the previous month, down 1% from a year earlier. While electric vehicle sales plunged due to the expiration of tax credit benefits, sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) continued to expand, bringing total eco-friendly vehicle sales to 34,938, up 10%.
In the previous month, Hyundai Motor (including Genesis) sold 77,135 vehicles, down 2% from a year earlier, while Kia sold 69,002 vehicles, up 0.1%. It is the first time in 13 months that Hyundai Motor's sales have turned downward.
During the same period, Hyundai Motor and Kia sold 34,938 eco-friendly vehicles, up 10.3% year over year. Eco-friendly vehicles accounted for 23.9% of all models. Electric vehicle sales were sluggish due to the expiration of the electric vehicle Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credit.
Electric vehicles for Hyundai Motor and Kia (3,834 units) fell 61.6% from a year earlier. By model, sales of Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 (1,642 units) and Ioniq 6 (398 units) decreased 63.5% and 52.4%, respectively, from a year earlier. For Kia, EV6 (508 units) sales fell 70.7% from a year earlier, and EV9 (666 units) fell 65.7%.
Demand for HEVs continued to expand. In the previous month, Hyundai Motor and Kia sold 31,102 HEVs, up 43.5% from a year earlier. Hyundai Motor rose 36.9% to 17,773 units, and Kia rose 53.2% to 13,329 units.
As sales of the new Palisade HEV (2,470 units) got fully underway, sales of the Elantra HEV (2,440 units) increased 86.7%. Santa Fe HEV sales rose 36.3% to 4,472 units, while sales of the Niro HEV (2,541 units) and Sportage HEV (6,846 units) increased 101.3% and 87.2%, respectively.