One out of four new cars at Hyundai-Kia sold in US market

One out of four new cars from Hyundai Motor Group were sold in the U.S. market this year, according to Hyundai Motor Group on Sunday. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia sold 1,548,333 units in the United States from January to November 2024, accounting for 23.3% of the vehicles (6,656,584 units) sold worldwide by the company during the same period.

This is the first time since 1988 (28.8%, 261,782 units) that Hyundai Motor and Kia's sales share in the U.S. exceeded 23%. The share of U.S. sales, which remained in the mid to high 10% range in the late 2000s, recovered to the 20% level for the first time in 16 years to 22.3% in 2021. It had been 21.5% in 2022 and 22.6% in 2023.

The number of units sold in the U.S. market is also expected to reach an all-time high of approximately 1.7 million units this year. Hyundai and Kia's previous highest sales record in the U.S. market was 1,652,821 units, which was achieved last year.

The company is showing strong sales in North America, particularly for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), luxury brand Genesis, and eco-friendly vehicles. Hyundai Motor is focusing on launching strategic vehicles targeting demand in North America, such as its pickup truck ‘Santa Cruz’ and Kia Motors’ large SUV ‘Telluride.’

“Local sales may further increase upon the ‘Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America’ built in Georgia launches full-scale production next year. Agile and quick measures are needed to deal with possible policy changes in the upcoming Trump administration,” said an official with the auto industry.


한재희 기자 hee@donga.com