Hyundai Motor's Kona

Hyundai Motor emerged as a major electric vehicle maker last year, SNE Research said on Feb. 5.

The sales of the South Korean automaker’s EVs soared 2.7 times in 2019 backed by the popularity of Kona in Europe, the research firm said. It was ranked 11th in 2018.

Tesla, a US EV maker, maintained its position on the top of the list due to strong sales of Model 3. BYD, China’s No. 1 EV maker, managed to remain No. 2 but suffered a sales fall of 21 percent from a year ago and market share loss. 



No. 5 Nissan’s sales also fell 13 percent on-year.

The sales volume of No. 3 BMW rose 3 percent on-year while BAIC and Nissan saw a fall of 25.9 percent and 13 percent, respectively, during the same period.

Meanwhile, Kia Motors, a Hyundai affiliate, rose its rank from 21 to 14 thanks to the sales growth of Niro, SNE said.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)