In contrast to recent moves by competitors to reduce EV output, Hyundai Motor said on Thursday that it will not postpone plans to roll out new electric vehicles and was optimistic about chances for ongoing growth this year.
Sales of electric vehicles are increasing, but not as much as automakers had anticipated because of high borrowing costs.
“We believe that EV sales will grow longer term, so we do not plan to dramatically reduce EV production or our line-up due to likely near-term hurdles,” South Korean automaker executive vice president Seo Gang Hyun said at an investor results briefing.
The Hyundai Motor Group, which owns the brands Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai, announced in April that it intended to introduce 31 electric vehicles by 2030. This includes the Ioniq 7 SUV’s release the following year.
Hyundai’s electric vehicle sales for the upcoming year may be marginally lower than anticipated, according to Seo, but he did not anticipate a major impact on overall sales because the automaker had the production flexibility to increase output of gasoline-powered cars if demand changed in that direction.
With the aid of a favourable exchange rate, Hyundai reported a third-quarter net profit of 3.2 trillion won ($2.4 billion), more than doubling its year-ago performance and surpassing an LSEG SmartEstimate of 2.9 trillion won.
Additionally, sales rose, rising 8.7% to 41 trillion won due to strong demand for gasoline SUVs with large profit margins. EV and hybrid sales increased as well, rising by 33% to 169,000 units.
There have been a lot of depressing EV announcements this month.
GM announced that it would postpone manufacturing of the electric pickup trucks Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra by a year at a Michigan plant, citing a decline in consumer demand for EVs. One of the three shifts at the Ford plant that produces the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck will be temporarily eliminated.
While GM and Honda announced on Wednesday that they were cancelling a $5 billion deal to jointly develop lower-cost EVs, Tesla is also delaying plans for a manufacturing plant in Mexico.
Following its earnings release, Hyundai Motor’s stock saw a 1.4% decrease, surpassing the 2.7% decline of the benchmark KOSPI.
