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On February 21st, Hyundai Motor Group released global sales figures for 2023. Data show that Hyundai Motor Group sold a total of 7.3 million vehicles in 2023, making it the third largest automobile group in the world again, ranking third in global sales for two consecutive years, second only to Toyota and Volkswagen, with the former selling 11.23 million vehicles and the latter 9.24 million vehicles. In terms of specific brands, Hyundai sold 4.21 million vehicles worldwide, up 7 per cent from a year earlier, while Kia sold 3.08 million vehicles, up 6.4 per cent from a year earlier.

In terms of financial performance, Hyundai's total revenue in 2023 was 162.7 trillion won (875.326 billion yuan), up 14.4 percent from a year earlier, and net profit was 12.27 trillion won (66.013 billion yuan), up 53.7 percent from a year earlier. Kia's total revenue was 99.81 trillion won (536.9778 billion yuan), up 15.3% from a year earlier, and its full-year operating profit was 11.61 trillion won (62.4618 billion yuan), up 60.5% from a year earlier.

Although Hyundai Motor Group performed well in the global market, it was not optimistic in the domestic market. The market share of Korean brands in China is 1.5% in 2023, compared with 1.7% in 2022, 2.7% in 2021, and 3.8% in 2020, showing a gradual downward trend and has declined for six consecutive years, according to the Federation.

According to the official website, there are currently nine models on sale in Beijing Hyundai, but sales of all models except Elantra are relatively mediocre, compared with joint venture models of the same level. According to official figures, Beijing Hyundai sold a total of 257000 new cars in 2023, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, with the highest sales of Elantra, 108700, ix35 and Tusheng, 43600 and 53000, respectively. It is understood that this year, Beijing Hyundai will launch the 11th generation Sonata and the fifth generation Shengda, and the tenth generation Sonata will be listed in July 2020. due to the depressed sales, the eleventh generation Sonata will continue to use the power combination of 1.5T engine + 7DCT double clutch gearbox and 2.0T engine + 8AT gearbox to compete with Camry, Accord, Teana, Passat and other models.

As for Kia, there are almost no products to play in China. The highest sales in 2023 is the discontinued Freddy, which is 26416, while that of Lion Platinum and Zhirun is 11291 and 10887 respectively, and the other models are all less than 10,000. In order to cope with the sales difficulties in China, Kia has also begun to launch new energy vehicles. In 2023, Kia listed EV5 and EV6 electric vehicles in China, of which EV6 is the first electric vehicle based on E-GMP platform. It was officially launched at the 2023 Chengdu Auto Show and sold in the Chinese market as an import. The official guiding price is 28.28-419800 yuan. The EV5 is the first domestic pure electric model, positioning compact SUV, and the third dedicated pure electric vehicle in the Kia electric vehicle product line, based on Kia electric vehicle platform E-GMP, with a price range of 14.98-174800 yuan.

Compared with some moribund brands, Korean cars still have a certain market foundation, including the supply strength of overseas groups, and there is still a chance to turn around. From the current market changes, Korean brands have gone out of two routes, on the one hand, Hyundai, Kia brand to high-end transformation, like Chinese brands, greatly improve the products, and targeted in the blank market. This is also accompanied by the elimination of old low-end models, and efforts to improve the brand image. On the other hand is the transformation of new energy, including power-generating electric vehicles and hydrogen-fueled vehicles. As the third largest automobile group in the world, with strong technical reserves and financial resources, it can quickly respond to market changes. Although Chinese brands have stood in the center of the new energy competition, the global market is the final journey.

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