SEOUL - Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's leading carmaker, announced a significant rise in its net income for the third quarter of the year.
According to a new release by the Yonhap News Agency, consolidated net profit reached 3.3 trillion won (US$2.4 billion) for the July-September period. This marks an increase of 134 percent from the same quarter last year.
Sales also increased, registering an 8.7 percent growth year-on-year to reach 41 trillion won. Operating profit saw an even greater leap, soaring 146.3 percent to 3.82 trillion won. The earnings exceeded market expectations, surpassing the average net profit estimate of 2.87 trillion won by analysts, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data subsidiary of Yonhap News Agency.
Hyundai disclosed that it sold 1,045,510 vehicles in the global market during the third quarter, a 2 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year. A notable segment of this growth was a 33.3 percent increase in global sales of eco-friendly vehicles, propelled by its reinforced hybrid electric vehicle (EV) lineup, including new models under its Ioniq brand.
The company's sales data revealed shifts in customer preferences. The percentage of hybrid units among all Hyundai cars sold during this period increased to 8.6 percent from 5.7 percent in the previous year. Sales of fully electric vehicles as a portion of total sales rose to 6.3 percent from 5.1 percent last year. Furthermore, sales of Hyundai's luxury brand, Genesis, also made gains, accounting for 5.1 percent of all Hyundai models sold during the quarter, up from 4.9 percent last year.
SUV models accounted for a significant share of the company's sales. Excluding Genesis models, SUVs made up 54.7 percent of all cars sold by the company, an increase from 50.6 percent last year. When including Genesis SUV units, this rate climbs to 57.8 percent.
Despite its robust performance, the company noted potential challenges ahead, including ongoing tensions in the Middle East, persistent inflation, and possible reduced demand in emerging markets due to high interest rates.
Looking forward, Hyundai stated it aims to enhance the global recognition of its Ioniq brand and expand sales of its eco-friendly vehicles. It also plans to introduce an updated Genesis GV80 model and a GV80 coupe model to improve its premium product mix.
Hyundai Motor Group has ambitions for its electric vehicle production. Despite slowing sales of EVs, the company plans to inaugurate production at a 300,000-unit-a-year EV and battery plant in Georgia by the second half of 2024. This move comes in response to the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers up to $7,500 in tax credits for EVs assembled in North America.
On the financial markets, shares in Hyundai Motor fell 1.37 percent to 179,500 won on the Seoul stock exchange, in line with the broader Korea Composite Stock Price Index's 2.71 percent loss.