Hyundai Motor Group overtook Volkswagen Group as the world’s second most profitable carmaker in the first half, indicating the leading South Korean automaker may have coped with US President Donald Trump’s tariffs better than its German rival.
Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third automaker by sales volume with three brands – Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp. and premium Genesis – reported an operating profit of 13 trillion won ($9.3 billion) in total during the January-June period, according to the industry sources on Sunday.
The conglomerate’s operating profit margin was 8.7% based on sales of 150.1 trillion won.
Volkswagen Group, the world’s No. 2 carmaker by sales volume with various brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini, logged an operating profit of 6.7 billion euros ($7.8 billion) in the first half.
Its operating margin was 4.2%, given the group’s sales of 158.3 billion euros during the period.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, was the most profitable carmaker with an operating profit of 2.3 trillion yen ($15.4 billion) and sales of 24.6 trillion yen. Its operating profit margin was 9.2%.
The Japanese automaker sold 5.2 million vehicles worldwide in the first half, followed by Volkswagen Group with 4.4 million units and Hyundai Motor Group with 3.7 million.
The Kia EV5, its first China-made all-electric vehicle (File photo by Hyundai Motor Group)
LOOKING TO STAY AHEAD OF VOLKSWAGEN
Despite lower sales, Hyundai Motor Group is expected to outpace the Volkswagen Group in terms of profitability this year, provided the South Korean conglomerate effectively mitigates the risks of US tariffs and the prolonged downturn in global electric vehicle demand, industry sources in Seoul said.
Hyundai Motor Group reported tariff costs of about 1.5 trillion won in the second quarter, smaller than Toyota’s 4 trillion won, according to the sources.
