Hyundai long played catch-up to global rivals in those areas, but Chang said the work is now largely complete. And it's time to shift gears for the brewing battle in electrification.
"The point is how we can be competitive by introducing new models. That is our big momentum, the game-changer," Chang said of the EV plunge.
The ramp-up will springboard off a trio of offerings from the Ioniq series. The push begins with the Ioniq 5 compact crossover on sale now and continues with the Ioniq 6 sedan and Ioniq 7 three-row crossover.
But those are just three of some 13 EVs the Hyundai brand intends to have on the market in 2026, including electric derivatives of existing nameplates. While the Ioniq series rides on Hyundai Motor Group's new E-GMP platform , the carmaker will also introduce another dedicated EV platform to underpin the expanded lineup.
Chang declined to offer details about the upcoming architecture.
"This is to explain our confidence in how we can build up those numbers with a single platform. We are not simply looking at only one platform," Chang said.
"We are expanding our volume for EVs. And we have a plan for how we can do that."
Chang declined to specify a U.S. target for EV sales or overall volume in 2026. But he said the Hyundai brand is focusing on record market share rather than pure volume. Through November, combined sales of Hyundai and Genesis climbed 28 percent to 731,363 vehicles, with Hyundai up 24 percent to 686,741, on track to be within striking range of its 2016 peak of 768,057.
The Hyundai brand's U.S. market share was up 0.7 percentage point to 5 percent through September. Genesis' share stood at 0.3 percent, up from 0.1 percent a year earlier.
Looking to 2030, Hyundai expects to get half of its U.S. sales from EVs, riding surging customer interest in the technology and growing government support for it. Globally, Hyundai and Genesis EV sales are forecast to reach 220,000 in 2022, from just 90,000 in 2020.
Genesis will start phasing out internal combustion in 2025 and launch eight battery-electric and fuel cell electric replacements to make it an all-EV brand by 2030.
"I think there is a big momentum in how customers feel about EVs," Chang said. "We see a clear signal from the market that demand will be increasing."