Ford, GM And Hyundai Are Adapting Differently To The Evolving EV Dynamics

While Ford Motor F remains focused on hybrids in the near-term, General Motors GM has been significantly increasing its EV portfolio, and Hyundai Motor Company HYMTF is maintaining its EV sales momentum as it works on solidifying its EV positioning.

On Wednesday, Ford announced that it sold a total of 504,039 vehicles during the third quarter, which marks a YoY improvement of 0.7%. Year-to-date, Ford experienced a sales rise of 2.7% as it sold 1,548,172 vehicles.Hybrids led the way as Ford sold 48,101 of them, with sales growing as much as 38%.  Ford revealed its struggling EV business also grew 12.2% to 23,509 sold vehicles but EV sales growth slowed, causing Ford to lose its EV lead to its Detroit peer, General Motors. During the first nine months of the year, Ford sold 67,689 EVs, up 45% on an annual basis. This places Ford just behind General Motors who sold 70,450 EVs through September. On Tuesday, GM reported that this figure that includes a rise of about 60% during the third quarter. But both Ford and General Motors continue to trail Hyundai Motor Company, who remains a distant second to the EV king, Tesla Inc TSLA.

Meanwhile, Tesla revealed on Tuesday its third quarter deliveries grew 6.4% YoY.  Out of 462,890 units that Tesla delivered, Model 3 and Model Y making up 439,975 of those deliveries. During the quarter, Tesla also revealed it produced 469,796 vehicles, with 443,668 of them being also Model 3 and Model Y. 

At its recent CEO Investor Day, Hyundai announced its plans for boosting profitability by diversifying its hybrid and EV lineups. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation also just announced a joint venture to enhance competitiveness in future EV batteries by launching a new manufacturing process to develop lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cathode material. In addition, Hyundai has an ongoing partnership with the innovative clean-energy pickup accessory manufacturer, Worksport Ltd WKSP for the solar-powered SOLIS tonneau cover whose alpha launch was released this month, along with its off-grid power partner, COR portable battery generator. Moreover, Worksport just announced it expanded its sales to Federal Government Agencies, after supplying its flagship made-in-USA AL3 Tonneau Covers for regular fleet purchases. Therefore, Hyundai already secured access to cutting edge solutions Worksport has to offer, like the SOLIS and COR power duo. Worksport is only an example of game-changing solutions that will undoubtedly support traditional automakers like Hyundai, Ford and GM to gear up for the EV era and possibly, catch up to Tesla sometime in the future.

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