HYUNDAI-GENESIS: Strong June, Q2

Hyundai Motor America's second-quarter sales rose 15 percent to 227,629 between the Hyundai and Genesis brands. Strong demand for Hyundai electrified and hybrid vehicles as well as robust Genesis deliveries helped the automaker achieve the double-digit growth.

In June, Hyundai and Genesis' combined sales rose 11 percent to 75,354.

Though Hyundai's retail sales dipped 2 percent to 61,991 in June, electrified models represented 20 percent of all vehicles sold to consumers and jumped 53 percent year over year during the month. Retail sales of Hyundai crossovers accounted for nearly 74 percent of total June volume, according to the company.

Hyundai said the Ioniq 5 EV, Tucson plug-in hybrid and Kona EV each set monthly sales records in June.

"Despite the ongoing challenges in the market due to higher interest rates, Hyundai had an outstanding performance in the month of June, for the quarter and for the first half of the year," Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said during a sales call Wednesday. "Let me also say that throughout the quarter, we maintained robust vehicle production, which was largely supported by remarkable sales figures in our green category."

While Hyundai saw success with EVs, Parker said the Inflation Reduction Act has made the playing field uneven. The law favors U.S.-made EVs over those produced overseas.

The Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 EVs qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit for leases, which has led to an uptick in lease penetration for those models from 2 percent in January to around 34 percent in June.

"At the beginning of the year, because of IRA, our EV sales were certainly impacted. It's not an even playing field," Parker said. "We're certainly not happy about it, but those are the deck of cards that have been dealt, and we're trying to play that deck as best as we can.

Brands: Hyundai, up 10% in June and 14% in Q2; Genesis, up 33% in June and 25% in Q2

Notable nameplates: Hyundai Elantra, up 60% in June and 58% in Q2; Sonata, down 19% in June but up 8.4% in Q2; Palisade, down 14% in June and 12% in Q2; Santa Cruz, up 3.6% in June and 9.6% in Q2; Santa Fe, up 8.7% in June and 0.9% in Q2; Tucson, up 13% in June and 23% in Q2; Genesis G70, up 19% in June but down 6.2% in Q2; GV70, up 43% in June and 55% in Q2; GV80, down 7.8% in June and 0.7% in Q2

Inventory: Hyundai dealers started July with 49,329 vehicles in U.S. inventory, up from 47,671 at the start of June.

Fleet: Fleet sales represented 9 percent of total volume in Q2, according to the company.

Quote: "These exceptional results demonstrate Hyundai's resilience and adaptability in the face of some market challenges," Parker said. "But our ability to keep up production, meet consumer demand and deliver products efficiently has undoubtedly contributed to our overall success for the first half of the year."

Did you know? Ioniq 6 electric sedan sales have now surpassed 1,000 in the U.S.