Hyundai Motor targets 9% operating margin by 2030, backed by 100 refreshed models

Hyundai Motor raised its 2030 operating margin target to above 9 percent, with 100 next-generation models set to launch globally — with a particular focus on high-margin hybrids for the U.S. market.

Of them, 58 models are destined for the North American market while 41 are aimed at Europe, according to its CEO José Muñoz during the automaker's 2026 CEO Investor Day in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Wednesday.  

The Santa Fe is slated to become Hyundai's first extended-range electric vehicle (EREV), an EV type fitted with a fuel-powered internal combustion engine, entering mass production in early 2027. Genesis' first EREV is also scheduled for the beginning of next year.  

Hyundai reaffirmed its target of 5.55 million vehicles in global sales by 2030, with North America accounting for 26 percent of that volume. To make that goal, Hyundai plans to boost global production capacity by 1.27 million units by 2030, including a 500,000-unit expansion in North America, 320,000 in India, 200,000 domestically and 250,000 through knockdown assemblies. 

Hybrids for U.S., EVs for Europe

Hyundai will debut at least 10 new hybrid model generations in the North American market by 2030, with a goal of generating over half of the region's sales through hybrids.

Hyundai sold 114,870 hybrids in North America, up 50 percent on year. The Palisade Hybrid launched this year, with a Tucson Hybrid and Genesis's first hybrid GV80 are planned for the fourth quarter.

Hybrid vehicles, which made up just 1 percent of Hyundai's North American sales when the Sonata Hybrid debuted in 2011, surged to 25 percent this year. 

Europe will instead be the focus of EVs, with the start of the Ioniq 3 electric SUV, whose debut is slated for the fourth quarter.

Hyundai aims to cover 85 percent of the European market with electrified offerings and lift EV sales there to at least 420,000 units by 2030, up from 116,000 in 2025.

“We are trying to allocate the capital based on return on investment, and this is the reason why most of the investments are focused on large SUVs, which have high profit, and also in the more profitable regions like the North American region and also in the Middle East region, which is very high profit,” Muñoz said during a press conference after the investor day event.

With the shift toward higher-margin hybrids and EVs, Hyundai targets an operating margin of at least 9 percent by 2030. It came in at 6.2 percent last year and 5.8 percent in the first half of this year.

In India, Hyundai will expand its SUV lineup, starting with the launch of a new SUV developed specifically for India in the fourth quarter.

The company aims to export around 30 percent of its India production volume by 2030 to markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America.

Robotaxis and robotics

Motional, Hyundai's autonomous-driving subsidiary based in Boston, will launch a driverless ride-hailing service in Las Vegas by the end of the year, with expansion planned across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Hyundai will begin supplying Ioniq 5-based robotaxis to Waymo within the year,  following nine months of real-world testing across major U.S. cities. With that record, Hyundai aims to seek to become a foundry manufacturing for autonomous vehicles. 

Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot, remains on track for deployment at Hyundai's Georgia EV plant in 2028. A U.S. robotics factory capable of producing 30,000 units annually will be opened in 2028, with a site announcement expected by the end of the year. 

The automaker opened a Robot Metaplant Application Center in Georgia in June and plans to expand the facility 10-fold by December. 

To compete with Tesla in self-driving technologies, Hyundai outlined a "Data Flywheel" strategy, which intends to merge autonomous driving data collected separately by Hyundai and its subsidiaries including Kia, 42dot and Motional. 

"As we scale the Data Flywheel, our greatest advantage lies in our sales volume and business network — more than 7 million vehicles sold annually across roughly 190 countries," said Park Min-woo, head of Hyundai Motor Group's Advanced Vehicle Platform division and CEO of 42dot. 

“We expect to overtake competitors in cumulative data volume by around 2033,” he added. 

Hyundai’s 100-megawatt AI data center capable of housing more than 50,000 GPUs is scheduled to open in 2029 in Saemangeum, North Jeolla. 

The Korean automaker on Wednesday also announced it would retire roughly 2.51 million treasury shares worth roughly 789.1 billion won ($570 million) as part of its shareholder return program.

Hyundai Motor shares closed at 408,000 won on Wednesday on the Kospi, down 3.09 percent from the previous session.

BY SARAH CHEA   [[email protected]]