Hyundai Motor North America and Kia America experienced an increase in interest in their electric vehicles last month despite reporting lower sales in the US. For the seventh consecutive month, Kia sold 65,754 cars overall last month, a 3.6% decrease. The K5 sedan saw the worst decline in sales in April, with just 333 units moving as opposed to 5,035 in 2023.
Hyundai saw a 3% decline in sales to 68,603 units in April, following two consecutive months of increases. Sales of Hyundai’s Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs decreased by 11% and 16%, respectively, while sales of the company’s Elantra compact car fell by 24%. After 17 months of sales improvements, Genesis, the premium automobile division of Hyundai Motor Co., saw an almost 6% decline in April, according to Automotive News. The GV70 sales volume saw the largest drop.
With 3,623 sales, April was Kia’s biggest month ever for electric cars—a 61% increase over the company’s previous record established in April 2022. Interest in the EV9, an electric SUV that went out for preorder in October of last year, drove sales. The carmaker sold 1,572 EVs, bringing its year sales total to $5,579 in total.
Decline in electric vehicle sales
The most costly model that Kia has to offer, the EV9, is imported from South Korea and is currently ineligible for the $7,500 tax benefit established by the Inflation Reduction Act. Kia announced earlier this month that it would provide a $7,500 incentive to lower the price and that it would also provide financing rates ranging from 0% to 3%. Buyers are limited to selecting one of those incentives, though.
As a result, sales of the more affordable EV6 surged by 65% year over year to 2,051 units, leaving the EV9 in the dust. Eric Watson, vice president of sales operations at Kia, stated that “the impressive sales momentum generated by Kia’s electric vehicle and electrified models in the first quarter continued to accelerate in April with best-ever electric vehicle and SUV performances.”
Hyundai’s electric vehicle sales increased by 26% in April as a result of increased demand for the mid-size Ioniq 6 and crossover SUV Ioniq 5. Sales of Ioniq 5 surged by 59% last month, while sales of Ioniq 6 increased by 41%. Strong interest in the automaker’s hybrid options was also evident, as evidenced by the 44% increase in sales of the Tucson hybrid.
