Hyundai Motor Group raised its global electric vehicle (EV) sales target for 2026 to 1.7 million units from 1 million units, its chief executive has said, underscoring the automaker's push to meet the growing EV demand.

Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon made the remark in an interview with the US-based Automotive News published on Tuesday, saying that the company will double the EV lineup to at least 13 models by 2026. 

"That's very ambitious. Next year, we expect to sell about 220,000 EVs around the world for Hyundai and Genesis, which is about a 56 percent increase over what we expect this year," Chang said.

The updated sales target combines the sales from Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Corp., and Hyundai Motor's independent premium brand Genesis, according to Chang.

Prior to the revision, Hyundai had set the global EV targets at 560,000 units by 2025 and Kia at 500,000 units by 2026.

Chang said that the automaker has been aggressive in its electrification plan toward carbon neutrality, and how to bring the transition faster is one of its goals.

"In 2035, there will be 100 percent carbon neutrality in Europe. That will be followed by major markets like the US We're going to keep this pace around the world," Chang said.  

Regarding the US market, Chang explained that Hyundai is shortening the production development schedule to have more EVs by 2025-2026, adding that it needs to procure 50 percent of the total sales from EVs by 2030.

"We see a clear signal from the market that demand will be increasing ... there is a big momentum in how customers feel about EVs ... and the Biden administration is also driving more eco-friendly EV policies," he said, according to Automotive News. (Yonhap)