autoevolution's "2022 Automotive Industry MVP" Is Hyundai-Kia

The automotive industry started 2022 with huge optimism, having put behind a painful pandemic and countless production issues. Lockdowns were less of a concern, and things were looking up on the supply-chain front, creating the premises for a stellar 2022. Although far from over, the semiconductor shortages showed signs of improvement, so you see how all of these were upended in the months that followed.

Russia invaded Ukraine, causing further disruption in the supply chains and an energy crisis still haunting everyone. The European carmakers suffered the most, considering that many components for the auto industry were made in Ukraine before the war. But, in the end, no one was spared, no matter where its headquarters or the assembly plants were.

Moreover, the energy costs soared, dragging all the prices upward, and consumer confidence tanked, prompting many people to postpone acquisitions. This has led to delivery times decreasing and inventories building up, causing new headaches for an industry that was happy to have all products sold out.

Of course, some suffered more than others, and we had our favorites, but things evolved so chaotically that it was impossible to make predictions. And make no mistake, the market conditions were harsh for everyone, but in so many cases, the carmakers made questionable decisions which only made things worse. There weren’t many players left to celebrate weathering down 2022, and most of the time, we placed our bets on the wrong horse.

2022 Automotive Industry MVP: The letdowns

Without further ado, we’ll start our rundown with Tesla, which had almost a great year in 2022. The EV maker improved its production capacity by extending the Shanghai and Fremont factories, selling electric vehicles like there was no tomorrow. The company reported the highest margin in the automotive industry in the third quarter after hiking the prices repeatedly and was poised to end the year as a winner. But it wasn’t meant to be for so many reasons.

For once, its CEO Elon Musk doubled down on his foolish whim to buy Twitter, and he became unhinged ever since he was forced to complete the deal. Chaotic tweets, arbitrary decisions, and his disappearing from Tesla’s chain of command crippled the company on the last leg of an incredible journey. December might go down in history as one of the worst months, with Tesla bringing back discounts and incentives, inventories building up, and company shares going through the floor.

As such, we must say that Tesla was our biggest disappointment, but it was far from being the only one. Volkswagen was also running high and seemed in the best position to capitalize on the electrification trend. The group successfully IPO-ed Porsche, which has since entered the DAX index of the 40 most valuable German companies.

It has also announced the revival of the Scout brand and was poised to finally make headways into the U.S. market, but the software problems took the best of it and its CEO Herbert Diess in the process. With new management adopting a more “down-to-earth” approach, 2022 was a lost cause, but that doesn’t mean it won’t matter in the coming years.

We’ve had great hopes for the new crop of EV startups, but the little experience they had in dealing with economic woes crippled their prospects. Rivian, for instance, had to cut its production estimates several times throughout 2022, while quality issues and production difficulties bogged down Lucid. There will be many hurdles down the road for these new carmakers, and only some of them will make it to the other side.

Stellantis is a mixed bag with an impressive portfolio of brands, some further ahead in the technological race and some lagging behind. Jeep has finally started talking about electric vehicles, while Ram is readying the first hardcore electric pickup truck for the U.S. market. The European brands in Stellatins’ stable are all doing mostly OK, but somehow, there’s nothing inherently brilliant about Stellantis’ operations to earn our trophy.

We’ll end this list with the Japanese carmakers, led by Toyota. The group has pretended for years to be the forward-thinking players in the automotive landscape while trying their best to keep things unchanged. The times are changing fast, though, and this reluctance to embrace the inevitable will certainly weigh heavily on their future. Building hybrids was cool two decades ago, but for 2022 and beyond, we can only think of two words: Kodak and Nokia.

2022 Automotive Industry MVP: And the winner is...

There aren’t many companies among the major players in the automotive field that kept their cool in the face of so many crises. This hasn’t made our job easier, on the contrary. Given all the circumstances, one player impressed us the most. It might not have the most sales or the best brand image, but it certainly made a point in the complicated 2022. We are talking about Hyundai-Kia.

The Korean group made a lasting impression in the past years and didn’t flinch in 2022. In the first 11 months of the year, Hyundai-Kia sales were slightly down compared to 2021, but the auto industry has done much worse. That’s why the Koreans have managed to place in the third position by worldwide car sales with around 5 million vehicles sold, behind Toyota and Volkswagen. The group has seen the worst losses in North America and is in for even more frustration as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits will phase in on January 1st.

To improve their prospects, Hyundai and Kia have announced opening new assembly plants in the U.S. Their traditional partnership with leading Korean battery makers like LG Energy Solutions and SK On will also help them overcome present hurdles, and we think both brands will be in a strong position on the long run. Their electric vehicles, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the recently launched Ioniq 6, and the Kia EV6, have proved to be a hit with customers, thanks to the unique characteristics of the group’s E-GMP EV platform.

Not only are Hyundai-Kia’s electric vehicle lineups impressive, but its ICEs are also some of the most popular models in every market. More than that, their premium brand Genesis is taking off rather nicely, earning sales and brand awareness. Speaking of which, both Hyundai and Kia have gained tremendously in brand image. Once derided as makers of cheap, no-thrills vehicles, all Korean cars are now wanted because they are genuinely good, not because they are affordable. For all these reasons, we think Hyundai-Kia deserves to be our “2022 Automotive Industry MVP.”

2022 Automotive Industry MVP: Honorable mentions

As we’ve said, we had a hard time naming the most accomplished player in the automotive industry for this year. We were very close to awarding the title to Ford, and make no mistake, the Blue Oval would have deserved it. The company went through an overhaul this year, creating separate divisions for the bread-and-butter ICE vehicle production (Ford Blue), those made for businesses (Ford Pro), and electric vehicles (Ford Model e).

What Jim Farley has put in place paid off nicely because Ford had an impressive execution in 2022. Ford’s electric vehicles were among the best-sellers in their respective categories, even helping Ford with the overall sales results. Even so, though, Ford remains a relatively small player in the global car market, placing eighth when counting the October year-to-date sales, with around 2.6 million vehicles. This was the main reason why we chose Hyundai-Kia over Ford as a winner.

General Motors may not have impressed many people this year, and Mary Barra’s declared intention of overpassing Tesla in EV sales may have caused some people to sneer, but that’s only one side of the coin. The Detroit giant has used much of 2022 to set the building blocks for a grand oeuvre that would only show results in the coming years. GM has invested billions in battery factories and EV production facilities, and a flurry of electric models are planned to launch in the next two years. It is now far from impressive in this regard, but things are set to change very fast unless something catastrophic happens in 2023.

Last but not least, we want to mention the Chinese carmakers, which are only now beginning to show their teeth. The era of cheap knock-offs is over, and Chinese companies are now the top dogs in the EV times. They control the battery supply chains, have made tremendous technological progress, and have learned how to make incredibly safe cars, as they proved in Euro NCAP crash tests throughout 2022. We celebrated Hyundai-Kia this year, but we won’t be surprised if a Chinese company snatches the award in 2023.