Can't Catch Tesla Yet, But South Korea's Hyundai And Kia Gain Ground With Record-High EV Market Share In US

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor (OTC:HYMTF) and sister company Kia Corp have reportedly secured their largest share of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market in the first five months of 2024.

What Happened: According to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, Hyundai and Kia collectively accounted for 11.2% of the U.S. EV market, which translates to 48,838 units out of the 437,246 EVs sold in the U.S. from January to May, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The two companies together had a market share of only 6.8% in 2023 and 10.6% in 2022.

Despite this remarkable growth, Hyundai and Kia’s combined share still falls short of the U.S. industry leader, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), by 40.5 percentage points. However, this is a significant improvement from the 73.2 percentage point gap observed in 2020, the report noted.

Why It Matters: Hyundai offers electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the U.S. including a low-cost Kona electric starting at $32,675 and the Elantra Hybrid that starts at $26,250.

Kia, too, offers several electric and hybrid options including the Niro Hybrid which starts at $26,940, and the EV9 which starts at $54,900.

Both brands have electric vehicle options priced near or lower than Tesla’s cheapest offering- the Model 3 sedan. While Hyundai has the Ioniq 5 up against Tesla’s best-selling Model Y, Kia has the EV6 in the same price range.

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Read More: Another EV Maker Bites The Dust: Arrival Joins Growing List Of Bankrupt Startups

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