LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 22: The All-New, All-Electric, Hyundai Ioniq 9 is on display during the LA Auto Show a
Getty Images
Hyundai hit its stride in North America a few years ago with models that delivered on a more-for-the-money promise and carried a European design flair. An effort to expand quality and reliability helped—though, like most carmakers, the brand still has its issues, including a stop sale and recall of its top-selling Palisade—and U.S. manufacturing has grown to accommodate demand.
Most companies would be happy with Hyundai’s performance; in 2025 the brand was the third largest in year-over-year growth, at 8%, behind Toyota and Cadillac, according to Henk Bekker’s Car Sales Statistics and it was fifth in overall market share at 6.1%. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia and Genesis, however, dominates 11.3% of the market and ranks fourth overall. But with 901,656 units sold in 2025, Hyundai is looking at the possibility of a million-unit year in 2026. How is the company poised to cross that line? We talked to Randy Parker, president and CEO, Hyundai North America.
The Key To Success: Product, Product, Product
Hyundai’s fortunes shifted significantly with the introduction of the Palisade, a three-row family-focused SUV that debuted in 2019 and was redesigned last year.
“The Palisade is the halo for the brand,” Parker said. “It has performed extremely well over the past several years and now it’s performing even better. So happy that we’ve got that product in the portfolio.”
In the last few years, Hyundai has honed its product line with boxier SUVs, sleeker sedans and futuristic EVs, adding hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains and unifying the lineup with a common design language. The company is also playing to performance-focused customers through the N models of the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Elantra, and to the adventure market through its XRT off-road ready trims of the Ioniq 5, Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe and Santa Cruz.
Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America, speaks during the New York Automotive Forum at Javits Center in New York City on April 15, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP) (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesInvesting In The Future
Another key to growth is manufacturing in the US. The company built its first US assembly plant in 2002 and last year opened its second facility in Savanah, Georgia to anchor to a much larger presence in the US. The Metaplant, as Hyundai calls it, produces EVs but is designed for further expansion and to accommodate Hyundai’s needs as the company grows.
“We’re also investing in robotic technology,” Parker said. “Between 2025 and 2028, we’re investing $26 billion in US manufacturing and that includes expanded capacity at our facilities in Alabama as well as our facilities in Savannah, Georgia. In addition, we’re going to be bringing a steel mill to the great state of Louisiana. Phase one, we’re going to be able to produce 300,000 cars. Phase two, 200,000 cars.”
SHERWOOD PARK, CANADA – APRIL 3: Hyundai vehicles seen outside a Hyundai dealership, on April 3, 2024, in Sherwood Park, Strathcona County, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesA Dealer Model That’s Honed, Too
Dealers, of course, are a key driver of the company’s growth and this is where Hyundai needs transition that mirrors what the company accomplished with its product line: growing from budget dealers offering sub-prime loans to full-service, premium experience dealerships. “Our strategy is all part of what we call a fewer, bigger, better strategy,” said Parker. “We want fewer dealers in the network owning bigger stores.” Hyundai’s dealers, Parker said, are making significant investments in the brand. “Today we’ve got roughly 60 to 65% of the network that’s invested in new facilities. And by the end of next year, between 70 and 80% will have invested in new facilities.”
A Hyundai Motor electric car Ioniq 5 is displayed at the World Climate Industry Expo (2024 WCE) held at BEXCO in Busan on September 4, 2024. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP) (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesEVs Are Still a Core Part Of The Strategy
Hyundai can be a ‘zig when everyone else zags’ company: They continued to invest in and build sedans even when the marketplace signaled otherwise; the same is true with EVs. The company is continuing its EV development and manufacturing, planning for an expanded portfolio of EVs, hybrids and software-defined vehicles for both North America and global markets with goal of selling more than 3 million EVs globally by 2030.
North American sales, and crossing the million-unit mark, are a big part of the company’s strategy, so the pressure is on. “We still have a long, long ways to go,” Parker said. “Our work isn’t done.”