Eco-friendly vehicle exports by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. jumped 45 percent in the first five months against the previous year thanks to strong demand for their hybrid sport utility vehicles, data showed.

According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Monday, Hyundai Motor and Kia shipped a total of 145,781 eco-friendly vehicles from January to May, up 44.8 percent from a year-ago period.

Hyundai Motor’s green car exports soared 45.5 percent to 81,278 units, and Kia up 43.8 percent to 64,503 units.

Overseas sales of newly introduced hybrid SUVs such as Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento and Hyundai Tucson started picking up this year, adding heat to the demand for existing electric vehicle models such as Kia Niro EV and the first all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 on proprietary EV platform of E-GMP.

If the current pace continues, full-year exports of Hyundai and Kia green cars for 2021 could hit 300,000 units.

Hybrid vehicle exports totaled 80,109 units, surging 70.9 percent from a year earlier. Of the total, hybrid SUVs took up 72.2 percent, with outbound shipments up 89.3 percent to 57,804 units.

Kia shipped out 18,658 units of Niro Hybrid, adding 0.7 percent on year, and Hyundai Kona Hybrid 13,115 units after gaining 9.3 percent. New releases also performed well, contributing much to the exports – Santa Fe Hybrid with 8,362 units, Tucson Hybrid with 8,128 units, and Sorento Hybrid with 9,541 units. Among sedan models, Ioniq Hybrid exported 12,202 units, Avante Hybrid 4,239 units, and Sonata Hybrid 5,851 units.

Exports of plug-in hybrids amounted to 14,641 units, up 17.6 percent on year. Niro sold 8,539 units, Ioniq 3,735 units and Santa Fe 2,367 units.

“New releases of hybrid SUVs drove the surge in green car exports. They are expected to see an increase in eco-friendly car sales with new hybrid SUV lineup,” said an industry expert.

Outbound shipments of EVs rose 23.1 percent to 50,363 units – Hyundai Motor 22,611 units and Kia 27,752 units.

Hyundai Motor’s EV shipments were down 7.4 percent despite exports of 6,643 Ioniq 5 vehicles, but Kia saw a 68.2 percent jump as Niro EV exports were up 82.9 percent to 24,279 units.

Hyundai Nexo hydrogen cars shipped out 668 units up to May this year, up 48.8 percent on year.

Hyundai Motor shares finished 1.09 percent lower at 227,500 won in Seoul trading on Monday, and Kia 1.49 percent down at 85,800 won.

By Lee Ha-yeon

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