Hyundai’s electric vehicle pivot pays off, while other ICE players languish

The Driven

South Korean car maker Hyundai Motors is reaping the benefits of its partial switch to electric vehicles, becoming the only major legacy auto maker to turn a positive stock market return to date in 2020.

In terms of share price fluctuations for 2020 so far, Hyundai is second only to EV juggernaut Tesla, which is now worth more than $US400 billion, more than Big Oil, and more than twice that of the next most valuable car maker, Toyota.

Tesla and Hyundai, as well as luxury sports car brand Ferrari, are the only car companies to buck the trend in the wider market of slumping combustion vehicle sales, which has been further exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic.

While Tesla’s stock has been going through the roof, quadrupling in value since the start of 2020, Hyundai’s gains have been more modest with a 29.5% increase since the start of 2020.

But if market fluctuations are a mark of heading in the right direction – at least for investors, who are increasingly concerned with ESG stocks, as reported by CNBC – then it would seem Hyundai is doing exactly that.

The most significant 15.6% jump came after Hyundai announced it would produce an entire electric series using the Ioniq name.

The new Ioniq series, based on the car maker’s successful electric hatchback which is one of a handful of electric cars in Australia available for under $50,000, will include an Ioniq 5 mid-sized crossover to be debuted in early 2021, an Ioniq 6 sedan based on the Hyundai Prophecy concept in 2022 and the Ioniq 7 SUV, scheduled for early 2024.

To read the full version of this story – and view the photo gallery – on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…

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