Hyundai and Kia’s low-cost EVs are supercharging sales — And this is just the start
Hyundai and Kia are on a hot streak. The Korean auto giants just notched another month of strong sales growth in February, thanks to new low-cost EVs like Kia’s EV3 and the Hyundai Casper (Inster EV). With more models on the way this year, Hyundai and Kia setting the stage for an even bigger 2025.
Hyundai and Kia sales rise in February with low-cost EVs
Coming off its second straight year of setting a new global sales record, 2025 is shaping up to be Kia’s biggest year in company history.
Kia is revamping the brand with a new lineup of stylish electric vehicles as part of its “EVs” for all strategy. After launching its first three-row electric SUV, the EV9, in 2023, the company is doubling down on more affordable models.
As part of its “EVs for all” strategy, Kia is launching a series of electric cars with prices ranging from around $30,000 to upwards of $80,000.
After launching the EV5 in China in late November 2023, starting at just over $20,000 (149,800 yuan), Kia introduced the smaller EV3 SUV last year.
Kia opened EV3 orders in Korea last June starting at roughly $30,000 (KRW 42.08 million). After securing over 10,000 reservations within a month, Kia’s vice president Won-Jeong Jeong, was already calling the compact SUV a “game-changer” in its home market.
Even more coming soon
Kia sold 2,257 EV3’s in Korea last month, surging 426% from the 429 sold in January. The EV3 has helped Kia’s domestic sales recover, rising 4.5% in February 2025.
With the EV3 now arriving in Europe, starting at around $38,000 (36,000 euros), Kia expects overseas sales, which were up 4.4%, to gain momentum this year.
Kia’s President, Song Ho-sung, told shareholders on Wednesday the company’s annual sales exceeded 100 trillion won ($68.6 billion) for the first time in 2024. It also notched its highest operating profit in company history at 12.7 trillion won ($8.7 billion).
This year, Kia expects even more growth with new electric models, including the EV4, its first electric sedan, and the PV5, its first electric van. Both were introduced at Kia’s 2025 EV Day last week. We also got our first look at the smaller, even lower-cost EV2 model.
Hyundai’s low-cost Casper Electric, which went on full-scale sale in the second half of 2024, helped boost domestic sales.
Casper Electric sales increased in Hyundai’s home market from just 186 units in January to 1,061 in February. Hyundai’s domestic sales rose 20% in February 2025 compared to the prior year. The Casper EV starts at about $20,000 (27.4 million won) in Korea.
In outside markets, like Europe, the Casper is called the Inster EV, and it’s expected to help Hyundai significantly ramp up overseas EV sales. In Europe, Hyundai’s compact electric SUV starts at around $27,000 (25,000 euros).
Hyundai and Kia are on a hot streak in the US. Both are coming off new February sales records with new models like the 2025 IONIQ 5 and Kia’s EV9 seeing strong demand. With more EVs on the way, including Hyundai’s three-row IONIQ 9 and the Kia EV4, the Korean automakers will be two brands to keep an eye on as the global auto industry continues shifting to electric.
Source: Newsis, Hyundai Motor
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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