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| Hyundai Motor's newly released IONIQ 6 EV / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Korea's export share of eco-friendly vehicles has exceeded 30 percent for the first time, as more consumers are switching to electric vehicles.
According to the Korea International Trade Association Monday, vehicle exports from January to May this year amounted to $20.45 billion, of which 30.3 percent were eco-friendly vehicles.
During the same period last year, the share of eco-friendly vehicles in total car exports was 21.6 percent, a marked rise of 8.7 percentage points in one year.
This is attributed to the growing demand for eco-friendly vehicles amid global carbon-neutral initiatives as more electric vehicles (EVs) such as Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 and Kia's EV6 began to be sold in the U.S, the world's largest car market.
Exports of eco-friendly vehicles are increasing steadily in terms of sales volume as well as amount.
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association's data, eco-friendly cars accounted for 23.8 percent of total 91,260 vehicles exported from January to May this year. This is an increase of 6.4 percentage points from the same period last year, surpassing 20 percent in terms of export volume for the first time.
Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 topped the list for EV exports with 25,381 vehicles, followed by Kia's EV6 with 25,052 exported.
Among hybrid cars, Renault Korea's XM3 had the largest export volume (26,597), followed by Hyundai Motor's Kona with 14,422 and the Kia Niro with 13,078. Nexo, the hydrogen car, had 119 vehicles exported.
Amid the current popularity of eco-friendly vehicles, the upward trend in exports is expected to continue for the time being.
Looking at the U.S. market alone, Hyundai Motor and Kia's eco-friendly car sales in the first half of this year came to 9,691, up 82.1 percent from the first half of last year, which is remarkable considering the total sales volume of Hyundai Motor and Kia in the U.S. market accounted for 72,875 in the first half of this year, which is a decrease of 12.7 percent from last year.
In addition, Hyundai Motor plans to release the GV60, a pure electric car of its Genesis luxury vehicle division, and the IONIQ 6, the first pure electric sedan, in the U.S., which is expected to increase its eco-friendly vehicles sales.
