José Muñoz

In recent years, nearly every car manufacturer has announced bold electric vehicle commitments—and many of them have backtracked when regulators, implementing climate targets, come knocking. Hyundai, the South Korea-based automaker—and the world’s number three car company by sales across its Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia lines—is an exception. Under the leadership of José Muñoz, Global COO of Hyundai, and president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America, the company has steadily ramped up its commitment to electrification.

At its CEO Investor Day in August, Hyundai outlined its latest strategic vision: by 2030, it aims to offer 21 different EV models, and to sell 2 million EVs per year, globally. It also intends to double the number of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) models available, from seven to 14, and to introduce hybrid models for Genesis, its luxury line. Earlier this month, the company opened a new $7.6 billion U.S. plant in Georgia dedicated to producing EVs and HEVs, as it seeks to meet growing demand. It is also continuously investing in battery technology and hydrogen-based fuel cell EVs, to improve EV efficiency.

So far, this strategy appears to be paying off. Hyundai’s EV sales have been rapidly increasing over the past year—the company now comprises 10% of the U.S. EV market, second only to Tesla. Its EVs have been named “World Car of the Year” three years in a row, with the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Kia EV9 taking the award home in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively. And quarterly reports show its EV and HEV sales continuing to climb. “Everything that is electrified is doing better than ICE [internal combustion engines]”, Muñoz said earlier this year of Hyundai’s sales.