Hyundai, Kia eye 23% gain in China sales this year

Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. are aiming to sell a combined 817,000 vehicles in China in 2021, from 664,744 units a year earlier, for a 23 percent on-year gain.

To help reach the goal, Hyundai introduced the second generation of its compact car Mistra, which is exclusively developed for the Chinese market, earlier this month.

The carmaker also plans to launch the electrified Mistra compact and the Nexo hydrogen fuel cell electric car within this year.

Also planned is the launching of the IONIQ 5 in China this year.

The IONIQ 5 is Hyundai's first all-electric model embedded with its EV-only electric-global modular platform (E-GMP).

Meanwhile, Kia will launch the all-new Carnival minivan in China later this year to address ab growing demand for recreational vehicles.

Hyundai and Kia collectively suffered a 27 percent on-year sales decline in China in 2020 due to the impact of a diplomatic dispute between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of a US anti-missile system in South Korea in 2017.

In 2019, Hyundai suspended production at its top Beijing plant and of low-end compact models to enhance profitability. Kia followed by shutting down the No. 1 Yancheng plant due to lower local demand for its models. The two plants have yet to resume production.

Hyundai plans to build its first overseas hydrogen fuel-cell systems plant in China by next year and produce 6,500 units of hydrogen fuel cell systems a year in its Guangzhou plant.