Hyundai Motor and Kia Anticipate Nearly 10% Increase in Auto Sales in 2023, Reported by Reuters

By Heekyong Yang and Hyunsu Yim

SEOUL – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate Kia Corp announced on Tuesday that they anticipate their combined global sales to increase by nearly 10% in 2023, despite falling short of last year’s sales targets due to supply chain issues.

In 2022, the companies sold 6.85 million vehicles, which was approximately 4% below their target of 7.16 million, primarily due to challenges such as shortages of chips and other components.

For 2023, they are aiming for global sales of 7.52 million vehicles.

Hyundai Motor stated that it plans to enhance market share and focus on profit-driven operations by adapting to market changes, accelerating the shift to electrification, complying with global environmental regulations, and optimizing production, logistics, and sales regionally.

Analysts have indicated that the sales goals set by the two companies may be ambitious but are achievable, especially given the existing pent-up demand for vehicles.

"Hyundai Motor and Kia still have a significant number of back orders and many vehicle buyers are in waiting lines despite the current economic conditions. With this demand in mind, the companies appear to be confident," remarked Kim Gwi-yeon, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

However, Kim cautioned that economic challenges like elevated interest rates could negatively affect car sales, particularly in the latter half of the year as pent-up demand begins to ease.

Shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia saw increases of 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively, in contrast to a 0.3% decline in the benchmark market.

In October, Hyundai Motor had reduced its global sales target for 2022 by approximately 7%, lowering it from 4.32 million vehicles to 4.01 million.