AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/02 Report--

A few days ago, South Korea's Kia Motor Co., Ltd. announced its operating results for the second quarter of 2024. In the second quarter of this year, Kia's quarterly operating income was 27.57 trillion won (about 145.018 billion yuan), up 5% from a year earlier, while operating profit was 3.64 trillion won (19.146 billion yuan), up 7.1% from a year earlier, according to financial data. net profit was 2.96 trillion won (15.57 billion yuan), up 5% from the same period last year. As for the increase in revenue, Kia said it was mainly due to an increase in the average selling price of cars, an increase in sales of electric vehicles and an increase in sales in North America.

In terms of sales, Kia worldwide sold 795200 vehicles in the second quarter, down 1.6 per cent from a year earlier. Of this total, sales in South Korea were 138200, down 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, while those outside South Korea were 657000, up 0.01 per cent year-on-year. In terms of breakdown, retail sales of Kia's global electric vehicles (including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles) were 162000 in the second quarter, up 8.3 per cent from a year earlier. Of these, hybrid model sales were 89000, up 7.5% from the same period last year; plug-in hybrid model sales were 20, 000, down 15.3% from the same period last year; and pure electric models were 54000, up 21.8% from a year earlier.

As for the reason for the decline in global sales in the second quarter, Kia explained that it was mainly due to the upgrading of electric vehicle production facilities and the temporary suspension of production in some factories, resulting in a decline in minicar exports and a decline in sales in Europe. Quarterly sales declined slightly compared with the same period last year. But thanks to the continued growth in hybrid models and the launch of the pure electric flagship model EV9, Kia's global electric vehicle sales have increased. At the same time, Kia points out that its profitability is still growing because of stable raw material prices and favorable exchange rates.

As of June 30, Kia's cumulative global sales in the first half of the year were 1.5557 million, down 1.3% from a year earlier, with total revenue of 53.78 trillion won, up 7.7% from a year earlier, operating profit of 7.07 trillion won, up 12.6% from a year earlier, and net profit of 5.77 trillion won. Achieve the strongest half-year performance in financial history.

It should be noted that although Kia's global market performance is strong, revenue and profits have increased, but its performance in the Chinese market is very lonely. Data show that Yueda Kia sold 109600 vehicles in the first half of this year, up 73.1% from the same period last year, but the recovery in sales was mainly due to the contribution of export sales rather than domestic market sales.

In the past 2023, Kia's operating revenue rose 15.3 per cent year-on-year to 99.8 trillion won, net profit rose 62.3 per cent to 8.78 trillion won, and global sales rose 6.4 per cent to 3.0874 million vehicles. However, as a joint venture in China, Jiangsu Yueda Kia Automobile Co., Ltd. is still in an insolvent situation, with total assets of 2.08 trillion won and liabilities of 2.48 trillion won in 2023, with an asset-liability ratio of 119%. In terms of sales, Yueda Kia's cumulative retail sales in 2023 were 83900 vehicles, down 11.40% from the same period last year.

As for the development in the second half of this year, Kia said that due to continued uncertainty in the global market in 2024, coupled with geopolitical risks, high interest rates, inflation and increased competition in the auto market, Kia plans to maintain optimal inventory levels through flexible production operations based on market demand. As for the Chinese market, although Kia's sales in the Chinese market are sluggish, Kia has repeatedly stressed that it will not give up the Chinese market and tries to surpass it with the help of new energy vehicles. Not long ago, the official also pointed out: "for the Chinese market, Yueda Kia does not blindly seek to catch up with the trend, but always maintain its own pace."

On Aug. 1, Kia said it would launch a new all-electric EV3 model in the second half of 2024 to boost sales. It is understood that the Kia EV3 launched in the world on May 23 this year, the car is based on the E-GMP platform, positioning small pure electric SUV, the power is equipped with 400V architecture and provides single-motor version and dual-motor four-wheel drive version, with a maximum power of 150kW rear single motor and a maximum torque of 283Nm. According to the plan, the new car will be the first to land in overseas markets, followed by the introduction of domestic products.

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