Hyundai celebrates remarkable sales milestone with next-gen electric models — and blows past a major American car brand

In 2024, Hyundai Motor Group zagged on EVs when others zigged. That bold move paid off.

The South Korean brand moved all the way up to second in American EV sales according to data from Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book, as InsideEVs detailed. Hyundai's brands of Kia, Genesis, and Hyundai sold 124,065 fully-electric cars to third place General Motors portfolio's 114,426.

Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker told InsideEVs in 2024 that the brand was "gonna keep [their] foot on the accelerator" when it came to EVs. One of the key winners has been the Ioniq 5, which was the 2023 Motor Trend SUV of the year. A refreshed 2025 version of the vehicle is on the way. Kia, meanwhile, has had its share of vehicles that have excited drivers like the EV9 ADVNTR for off-road adventurers.

InsideEVs did note that Hyundai's victory over GM might not persist. The popular Chevy Bolt's production was discontinued ahead of the upcoming 2026 edition's release. That reemergence could tip the scales back.

GM and Hyundai Motor Group did become the first two automakers outside of Tesla to crack 100,000 annual EV sales in the U.S. Ford just missed at 97,865 units sold, but could take some satisfaction in the Mustang Mach-E being the nation's best-selling non-Tesla EV.

Tesla's overall dominance persists with 633,762 EVs sold despite a decrease year over year. InsideEVs asserted despite media pessimism on the all-electric market, 2024 was a record year for U.S. sales. If there's pessimism to be had, it's over the market not shifting as quickly as automakers expected, and hard-to-shake problems with production, battery costs, and charging infrastructure.

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EVs do come with huge benefits for drivers and the planet. For drivers, EVs come with lower maintenance costs, fuel savings, a quieter ride, reduced contributions to tailpipe pollution, and other under-the-radar benefits. For the planet, EV adoption can lower reliance on dirty energy like gas, deliver cleaner air, and make a dent in transportation's carbon pollution that heats the Earth with troubling consequences.

InsideEVs readers were impressed by Hyundai's accomplishment.

One wrote that it was even more impressive they pulled it off given "NONE of their vehicles qualified for the Fed rebate" when purchased new.

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That could change soon, and the reader conceded that Hyundai used lease deals, which are eligible for Inflation Reduction Act savings, to boost affordability. Still they were impressed, writing, "even with that handicap they posted great sales."