Hyundai Motors and Kia appear set to report significant financial wins at the close of its latest financial year, while on the other side of the isle Mazda has confirmed losses in its first quarter.
Analysts believe that Hyundai is in line to record its best operating profit figures to date. Its operating profit is predicted to hit 10 trillion won (approximately US$7.7b) for the first time in the Korean marque’s history.
If it can meet the forecast threshold, it would mean year-on-year growth of 51.9%.
Europe and North America are where Hyundai has seen its strongest sales increases of late, with sales growing 2.9% and 6.6% respectively in Q2 2022 relative to Q2 2021.
Inevitably SUV sales account for more than half of Hyundai’s sales this year. The brand is one of many who have pivoted to focus on its SUV line-up, having recently issued updates to the Tucson, Santa Fe, and Palisade.
What’s perhaps unique about Hyundai’s figures is that they come in spite of the brand investing significantly in electric vehicles. Analysts report that demand for the brand’s EVs is growing.
The news is unsurprisingly also good for Hyundai’s sister brand, Kia.
It’s predicted that Kia’s operating profit is set to climb to 7.9 trillion won (US$6.0b). Should this figure come to pass, it will signal a 56.1% year-on-year increase for the brand.
Like Hyundai, Kia has also moved to focus on SUVs and electrification in recent times. The two brands share a large amount of research and development cost, which has proven particularly handy as each works to electrify their fleet.
If Hyundai and Kia end up producing the projected operating profit totals, the two companies could register all-time profits of US$13.7b.
The situation is less rosy at Mazda. The Japanese marque has reported a ¥19.5 billion ($143 million) loss in the opening quarter.
It’s been reported that the losses stem from the company missing production goals due to supply constraints and COVID-19 lockdowns. Profits have also been hit by higher raw material costs, according to Mazda global sales chief Yasuhiro Aoyama.
To remedy the losses, Mazda is set to raise prices for some models in certain markets.
“To offset higher raw material and logistic costs, we have raised prices in markets where we can do so, including the U.S.,” said Aoyama at Mazda’s financial results announcement earlier this week.
“We will fetch higher prices as we continue to monitor market competition and reassess the competitiveness of our products.”
