The South Korean automotive company, Hyundai Motor, and its affiliate Kia Corporation have predicted that their combined global sales will jump 12.1 percent this year after they failed to meet their sales target in 2021 on account of the global shortage of microchips.
The supply shortage and increasing demand for electronics during the pandemic have had a massive impact on the car industry, and the production of millions of vehicles was disrupted by the unavailability of essential components.
The companies sold 6.67 million cars last year, which was nearly 3.7 percent less than their combined target of 6.92 million during the shortage of the chip and supply issues that delayed vehicle shipments. They are now targeting global sales of 7.47 million vehicles for 2022.
How Will 2022 be Beneficial for Hyundai?
Hyundai Motor said in a statement:
In 2022, Hyundai Motor plans to expand its market share and strengthen profitability through efforts to stabilise chip supply and demand, adjust vehicle production schedules, strengthen electric vehicle lineups as well as optimising sales profit and loss by region.
Analysts find its sales target to be reasonable. Analyst Lee Jae-il at Eugene Investment and Securities expects the demand for vehicles to stay strong in 2022 on account of the repressed demands of customers who had been unable to buy cars in 2021 due to the supply crisis.
He said,
It appears that the chip shortage has been showing some signs of easing. However, rising raw material prices would likely have (an) impact on their profitability.
