Hyundai Motor Co. has announced a significant turnaround in the Korean electric vehicle (EV) market, stating that the prolonged slowdown in EV demand has concluded. This positive shift follows clear signs of a rebound observed in the first quarter, as the automaker aggressively advances its EV strategy.
In its recent quarterly report, Hyundai confirmed that the extended period of sluggishness in Korea’s EV market effectively ended during the January-March period. This recovery was largely driven by aggressive price reductions across various automakers, sparking a sharp increase in EV sales. Overall industry demand grew by 5.6 percent year-on-year, while demand for electric vehicles specifically surged by an impressive 150.9 percent.
Facing intensifying market competition, Hyundai strategically bolstered its EV initiatives by expanding its comprehensive membership program within the same quarter. This program, covering everything from vehicle purchase to maintenance services, proved instrumental in helping the company’s EV sales surpass its internal targets. Furthermore, Hyundai experienced robust demand for its leading EV lineup, including the highly anticipated Hyundai Ioniq 9 SUV, contributing to a substantial 59 percent increase in domestic EV sales compared to the previous year.
Hyundai currently offers a diverse range of 10 EV models in Korea, featuring popular options like the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Ioniq 9, and the luxury Genesis GV60. Among these, the Ioniq 5 demonstrated exceptional performance in the domestic market, with sales surging by 84.8 percent year-on-year to 7,625 units during the January-April period.
It is noteworthy that Hyundai’s optimistic assessment of the “end of the EV chasm” appears to be specifically limited to the domestic Korean market. This perspective does not extend to major global regions such as the United States, where record first-quarter sales were predominantly driven by hybrid vehicles, or Europe, which saw notable growth in both battery-powered and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales.
Industry insiders suggest that Hyundai’s evaluation signifies a pivotal inflection point in the Korean EV market. This market, long dominated by Hyundai and Kia, is now experiencing a transformative shift as a wave of Chinese brands and lower-priced imported EVs — leveraging efficient Chinese supply chains — gain significant traction with their aggressively budget-friendly models.
An industry source elaborated, “Before major players like Tesla, which primarily supplies its Korean vehicles from its Shanghai Gigafactory, and BYD initiated aggressive price cuts on EVs, Korean consumers had relatively limited affordable alternatives. This left Hyundai and Kia as the most viable domestic options. However, as Tesla and BYD intensify their efforts to expand their presence in Korea, an EV price war has become increasingly inevitable.”
The source further indicated that rising fuel costs, partly due to the ongoing Middle East conflict, combined with a wider array of more affordably priced EV offerings, are collectively reshaping consumer sentiment and successfully reviving demand in what had previously been a sluggish Korean EV market.
According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, Tesla’s cumulative sales in Korea experienced an astounding 445.2 percent year-on-year jump, reaching 34,154 units from January to April. This performance allowed Tesla to surpass Hyundai’s EV sales of 24,785 units, although it still trailed Kia’s leading 48,238 units during the same period.
Specifically, Tesla’s Model Y rear-wheel-drive variant alone recorded remarkable sales of 21,254 units during this period, significantly outselling Kia’s bestselling EV3, which registered 12,572 units, highlighting the Model Y’s strong market appeal.
BYD, a prominent Chinese automaker that entered Korea’s passenger vehicle market last year, has also demonstrated substantial sales expansion. The company successfully sold 5,991 vehicles in the same reporting period, notably outperforming other established foreign brands such as Volvo Cars, Lexus, and Audi.
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