Hyundai and Kia Earn Higher EV Market Share Than Gas-Powered Vehicle Market Share

Bradley Berman has just released an interesting report on the blogging website, Electrek. Bradley wrote about Hyundai-Kia’s latest achievement for the first quarter of 2020 regarding its EV sales vs. petrol/diesel-powered car sales. We see the scales tip in favor of EV sales globally with Hyundai-Kia groups EV cars representing 9.9% of the global electric-vehicle market. Globally, Hyundai-Kia’s internal combustion powered vehicles make up 8.9% of the market.

Is this remarkable? In some ways. Other countries like Europe experience stringent regulations, and EV cars become a more attractive choice in certain parts. Impressively, Hyundai-Kia holds the fourth largest position for a global share of the EV market. There is undoubtedly a demand for electric cars, and Hyundai-Kia’s success does make sense.

Hyundai-Kia’s success makes sense because it makes great affordable cars that are of quality. These cars relate to a broader audience, not just the super-wealthy buying as a second or third vehicle. Hyundai-Kia will continue to grow due to its excellent price point and a solid warranty. But, it is still difficult for an average person to justify an EV as their only means of transportation as longer commutes will have to be planned more carefully along with a higher buy-in cost than a petrol-powered car.

These sales figures got recorded during the first quarter of 2020 so, the pandemic hadn’t properly hit till mid-March. People who wanted cars were still buying them up during the beginning months of the year and perhaps even thought about adopting an Electric car life. Full electric vehicles sound good on paper, but infrastructure and practicality still aren’t there. Typically, the wealthy who purchase and become the first adopters of this technology will usually have a second or third vehicle, which is most likely gasoline-powered.

A 1% increase in sales over the internal combustion market doesn’t sound impressive, but that figure does make you think. Gasoline-powered vehicles are the most trusted and unanimous choice of transportation for most. Still, the Electric car trend is growing and has represented higher sales globally over gas/diesel cars, even if it was for just one quarter.

Range anxiety is slowly getting fixed with full EVs from Hyundai-Kia promising 300 miles of range. The remaining challenges are to quicken charge times, build infrastructure, and find a proper source of batteries for not only production but also to be disposed of economically when these electric cars start to reach higher mileage. If these issues get addressed, I’m positive Hyundai-Kia can shoot to the top in sales for EVs due to its incredible prices and quality products.

Kevin Meyn is an automotive journalist for Torque News concentrating on Hyundai content. Kevin is the founder of Exhaust Sports Auto Youtube channel, where he does professional car reviews on new and used vehicles. Through the use of various resources and extended Automotive expertise, Kevin documents the latest in automotive news revolving around Hyundai. Kevin graduated from NC State University studying Supply Chain Management but has had a passion for cars since he was a child. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Instagram @exhaustsports.