Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group

By Kim Hyun-bin

Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5 topped the list for the best-selling electric vehicle (EV) in the domestic market last year, according to industry officials, Wednesday.

Last year's annual domestic sales of EVs reached a record high as five domestic automakers exceeded 120,000 vehicles sold. The share of the EV market occupied by Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. reached 97 percent among domestic automakers, and as they plan to introduce new EVs this year, continuous growth is expected.

Domestic sales of EVs by five domestic automakers, including Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp., GM Korea, Renault Korea, and SsangYong Motor, were tallied at 123,027 vehicles. This figure marks the highest sales performance ever and a record increase of 67 percent compared to 2021.

Among them, Hyundai Motor and Kia's domestic sales of EVs last year reached 119,791 cars.

The best-selling EV last year was Hyundai Motor's IONIQ 5, recording 27,399 vehicle sales. Second place was the Kia EV6, which sold 24,852 vehicles. Both vehicles are made based on Hyundai Motor Group's EV platform, E-GMP.

The third and fourth places were occupied by Hyundai's Porter Electric (20,418) and Kia's Bongo EV (15,373). The rise in sales is due to EVs having lower charging costs than diesel vehicles and the small price difference due to the domestic EV subsidy system.

GM Korea sold 2,606 EVs, which is a 156-percent increase over the previous year. Renault Korea sold 516 EVs and SsangYong Motor sold 114 vehicles.

The EV subsidy system is also expected to be reorganized in a way that could be somewhat advantageous to domestic carmakers.

The Ministry of Environment is reviewing a plan to include the establishment of a direct service center for each company to be considered for EV subsidies from next year. If there is no direct service center, which is the case for foreign carmakers, the subsidy of up to 2.5 million won will be reduced, which is a measure designed to benefit domestic carmakers.