Hyundai has a card up its sleeve as it moves to dethrone Toyota, its electric vehicles
Hyundai is officially the third-largest automaker globally after jumpstarting the brand in 2022, behind only Volkswagen and Toyota. However, the South Korean automaker may have an advantage as the auto industry transitions to electric vehicles.
The Hyundai Motor Company, including Kia and Genesis, is establishing itself as a true competitor after surpassing General Motors (GM), Nissan, and Stellantis in annual volume this year, according to Bloomberg. Hyundai’s co-CEO Jaehoon Chang said in an interview:
We are on the right track, and this year we were very strong.
He cited flexible supply chain management as key to the automaker successfully navigating the semiconductor shortage.
The company has leaned heavily into EV tech, looking toward the future of travel, while some automakers (looking at you, Toyota) have failed to embrace the movement.
Hyundai has maintained a progressive approach, releasing electric models such as the IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6, which continue to drive significant demand. The new releases helped Hyundai achieve a record November sales month in the US, as it battles with Ford for second in US electric vehicle sales.
North America is now Hyundai’s largest single market, representing around 21% of its total sales last year. Furthermore, after passing the Inflation Reduction Act, North America has become a hot spot for EV investments, with sales expected to rise sharply over the next several years.
The progress is largely thanks to Hyundai’s early 19.4 trillion won (around $15.2 billion) investment into electric vehicle technology. As part of Hyundai’s strategy, the South Korean automaker is striving for 1.87 million EV sales globally, or around 7% of the global market share, by 2030.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest automaker, Toyota, has consistently warned against going all in on EVs (they must have missed the memo) while maintaining its hybrid approach.
Toyota’s first electric vehicle, the bZ4X, has a less-than-ideal rollout after a safety recall concerning the wheels falling off derailed its momentum. Despite resuming bZ4X sales in October, Toyota has failed to gain any real momentum with its EVs. Perhaps, more importantly, Toyota doesn’t seem to want to go fully electric.
Can electric vehicles help Hyundai edge out Toyota?
The Hyundai Motor Company’s total sales are up 1.2% year-to-date in 2022, thanks to “strong new models and rising demand.” IONIQ 5 sales more than doubled this year, selling over 88,000 units from January to November.
The Kia EV6 has sold over 23,000, while the newly released Hyundai IONIQ 6 (the initial batch sold out in just a few hours) has nearly sold 4,000 units since launching in October, with the US rollout slated for next year.
This past week, Hyundai revealed a new “EV-inspired” design for its new KONA lineup, showcasing the direction in which the automaker is headed.
As a result, Hyundai is on track to expand revenue by 21% to 141.7 trillion won ($108 billion), which would be the highest growth rate among the major automakers, according to projections.
Although analysts believed a slowdown was inevitable for Hyundai in the US after the Inflation Reduction Act kicked in, the bill’s strict battery sourcing requirements are now being delayed until at least March as the automaker works to build up its EV production capabilities.
Toyota’s sales are flat year-to-date compared to last year. However, regarding fully electric vehicles, Toyota has only sold 18,569 globally through November.
With almost all major auto markets (China, the US, Europe, etc.) moving toward fully electric vehicles, Hyundai seemingly has the upper hand. It already has a dedicated EV platform (E-GMP) and is already planning a purpose-built electric vehicle platform, the integrated modular architecture (IMA), to streamline production.
Toyota has recently taken note of Tesla’s success in the EV market, considering plans to build a new EV platform from scratch. Hyundai is building its business around electric vehicles, while Toyota continues fiddling around with other technology like hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells. Who will win in the end? Check back soon as EV sales continue climbing globally.
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “Social Media’s Role in Promoting Extremism and Misinformation” in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2021.
Handout | Via Reuters
Block jumped more than 5% on Monday, leading a rally in shares of fintech companies as analysts downplayed the threat of JPMorgan Chase’s reported plan to charge data aggregators for access to customer financial information.
The recovery followed steep declines on Friday, after Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan had circulated pricing sheets outlining potential fees for aggregators like Plaid and Yodlee, which connect fintech platforms to users’ bank data.
In a note to clients on Monday, Evercore ISI analysts said the potential new expenses were “far from a ‘business model-breaking’ cost increase.”
In addition to Block’s rise, PayPal climbed 3.5% on Monday after sliding Friday. Robinhood and Shift4 recorded modest gains.
Broader market momentum helped fuel some of the rebound. The Nasdaq closed at a record, and crypto rallied, with bitcoin climbing past $123,000. Ether, solana, and other altcoins also gained.
Evercore ISI’s analysts said that even if JPMorgan’s changes were implemented, the most immediate effect would be a slight bump in the cost of one-time account setups — perhaps 50 to 60 cents.
Morgan Stanley echoed that view, writing that any impact would be “negligible,” especially for large fintechs that rely more on debit, credit, or stored balances than bank account pulls for transactions.
PayPal doesn’t anticipate much short-term impact, according to a person with knowledge of the issue. The person, who asked not to be named in order to speak about private financial matters, noted that PayPal relies on aggregators primarily for account verification and already has long-term pricing contracts in place.
While smaller fintechs that depend heavily on automated clearing house (ACH) rails or Open Banking frameworks for onboarding and compliance may face real pressure if the fees take effect, analysts said the larger platforms are largely insulated.
WATCH: Congress moves to redraw $3.7 trillion crypto market rules, opening door to Wall Street
The global EV market is still charging ahead. According to new numbers from global research firm Rho Motion, 9.1 million EVs were sold worldwide in the first half of 2025, up 28% compared to the same period last year. But not every region is accelerating at the same pace.
China and Europe are doing the heavy lifting
More than half of the world’s EVs this year have been bought in China. That market hit 5.5 million sales in the first six months of 2025 – a 32% jump year-over-year. Around half of new cars bought in China are now electric.
While some Chinese cities’ subsidies have dried up, Rho Motion expects momentum to pick back up later in the year as more funding is released.
In Europe, 2 million EVs were sold in the first half of the year, up 26%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales also rose 26%, thanks in part to affordable models like the Renault 4 (pictured) and 5 entering the market. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) weren’t far behind, growing 27% year-to-date. Chinese automakers are leaning into PHEVs as a way to work around the EU’s new tariffs on BEVs.
Spain is leading the pack with EV sales soaring 85% so far this year. Its generous MOVES III incentive program was extended in April and has kept sales strong. The UK and Germany are also seeing solid growth – 32% and 40%, respectively. France, however, is slumping. With subsidies cut, EV sales there have dropped 13%.
North America is stuck in the slow lane
Things aren’t looking quite as bright in North America. EV sales in the US, Canada, and Mexico are up just 3% so far this year.
Mexico is the one bright spot, with a 20% boost. The US is up 6%. But Canada is down a whopping 23%.
And things could get bumpier. On July 4, Trump signed Congress’s big bill into law, which axes all the Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits. Those consumer credits for EVs now officially end on September 30.
Just over half of the EVs sold in the US this year qualified for those credits. Rho Motion predicts a rush in Q3 before the subsidies disappear – and a decline in sales after that.
Rho Motion data manager Charles Lester said, “With Trump’s latest cuts in his ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the US could struggle to see any growth in the EV market overall in 2025.”
Global EV sales snapshot, H1 2025 vs H1 2024
- Global: 9.1 million (+28%)
- China: 5.5 million (+32%)
- Europe: 2.0 million (+26%)
- North America: 0.9 million (+3%)
- Rest of world: 0.7 million (+40%)
Read more: China breaks records as global EV sales hit 7.2 million in 2025
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Lucid’s electric sedan can drive further, charge faster, and packs more advanced tech than most of the competition. That might explain why it’s leading the segment. The Lucid Air remained the best-selling luxury EV sedan in the US after widening its lead in the Q2.
The Lucid Air is America’s best-selling luxury EV sedan
The 2025 Lucid Air Pure arrived as the “World’s most efficient car” with an EPA-estimated range of 420 miles and a record 146 MPGe.
It just set a new Guinness World Record last week for the longest journey by an electric car after travelling 749 miles (1,205 km) on a single charge.
That record was set in the range-topping Lucid Air Grand Touring model, which is rated for up to 512 miles of EPA-estimated range. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated at 597 miles (960 km). Either way, it still crushed the estimates.
According to second-quarter sales data, released by Kelley Blue Book on Monday, the Lucid Air is still America’s best-selling luxury EV.
Lucid sold 2,630 Air models in Q2, up 10% from the previous year. Through the first half of 2025, Lucid Air sales are up 17% with 5,094 units sold.
Tesla, on the other hand, only sold 1,435 Model Ss during the quarter, 71% fewer than it did in Q2 2024. Tesla Model S sales in the US are down 70% through the first half of the year at 2,715.
Although Porsche Taycan sales were up 32% with 1,064 models sold, the significantly upgraded 2025 model year was expected to see even more demand. Porsche has 2,083 Taycans in the US this year, up just 1% from 2024.
Other luxury EV sedans, such as the BMW i5 (1,434), i7 (820), and the Mercedes EQS (498), experienced steep double-digit sales declines year-over-year.
And it’s not just electric luxury sedans. The Lucid Air is currently outselling many gas-powered vehicles in its segment.
Lucid’s first electric SUV, the Gravity, is also rolling out. Although only five were sold in the second quarter, Lucid is quickly scaling production. Lucid aims to produce 20,000 vehicles this year, more than double the roughly 9,000 it built in 2024.
Earlier today, Lucid’s interim CEO, Marc Winterhoff, confirmed during an interview with Bloomberg that the company expects higher Gravity output in the second half of the year.
The interview was at the grand opening of Panasonic’s new battery cell plant in De Soto, Kansas. Winterhoff said Lucid will start using new cells from the facility, but not until next year.
Lucid’s CEO stressed the importance of establishing a local supply chain, as policy changes under the Trump Administration are taking effect. Lucid and Panasonic are collaborating to localize EV materials, such as graphite. Last month, Lucid secured a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One for US-sourced Graphite.
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