Hyundai Motor said on Wednesday it was targeting annual global sales of 5.55 million vehicles by 2030, up 30% from 2023, as it plans to double its hybrid lineup to counter a slowdown in global electric vehicle (EV) demand.
The South Korean firm also said it would buy back up to 4 trillion won ($3 billion) of stock between 2025 and 2027 and pay a minimum of 2,500 won per share in quarterly dividends in a package that would return 35% of its profit to shareholders, up 10 percentage points from the current policy, reports Reuters.
Shares surged as much as 5% after the announcement, having traded flat beforehand, with analysts saying its new shareholder return policy was higher than anticipated. They closed up 4.7%.
The world’s No. 3 automaker by sales along with affiliate Kia Corp, kept its EV sales target of 2 million units by 2030, but raised its hybrid sales goal by 40% to 1.33 million units by 2028, as it laid out its medium- to long-term strategy at an investor day.
“Recently, the speed of conversion to electric vehicles has been slowing. As a result, demand for hybrids is increasing, and hybrids are becoming a basic option rather than an alternative to internal combustion engines,” said Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jaehoon Chang.
Hyundai said it planned to double its hybrid lineup to 14 models as it expected a surge in hybrid demand, especially in North America. It did not provide a timeline for the release of the new cars.
Hyundai could start producing hybrid cars at its new Georgia, U.S. plant in the first quarter of 2026, global Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz told reporters, adding about one third of the plant’s production capacity could be for hybrids when the factory is at full capacity.
