Hyundai Motor Group is likely to post a better-than-expected fourth quarter result as well as a record-high operating profit of 7 trillion won ($5.9 billion) this year, despite the ongoing chip shortage, market experts said Wednesday. 

Market analysts viewed that the Korean automaker’s focus on expanding sales of its ecofriendly models and broadening its product mix to enhance its brand value has helped the company to anticipate a turnaround this year. 

Nine local securities firms’ outlook on Hyundai Motor’s yearly profit came at 7.9 trillion won on average, about 196 percent jump compared to a year ago -- a record-high since 2014 when it hit the 7.5 trillion won of operating profit for the first time. 

Experts also forecasted Hyundai Motor’s Q4 operating profit at 1.9 trillion won on average, up by 53 percent on-year. They said the Korean automaker will post about 30 trillion won in sales on average, inched up by 5 percent compared to 2020. 

From January to September, Hyundai Motor recorded an accumulated 5.1 trillion won in operating profit. 

According to Hyundai Motor’s sister company Kia Motor, it has already surpassed its record-high operating profit in Q3 with an accumulated 3.8 trillion in operating profit from January to September. Its highest so far was 3.5 trillion won in 2012. 

The nine securities firms’ outlook on Kia Motor’s Q4 operating profit came at 1.4 trillion won on average, a nearly 16 percent rise from a year ago.
From January to September, both Hyundai and Kia sold many cars globally compared to a year ago. Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis sold 144,000 cars with its latest GV70 and G80, dragging its sales up by 57 percent from 2020. Kia’s high-priced RV models such as Sorento and Carnival also led its sales. 

Global interest in electric models also powered Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 sales. The company said an accumulated 47,267 Ioniq 5 and 19,068 Kia EV6 have been sold from January to October.

Meanwhile, analysts also viewed that the Korean automaker will continue with an upward momentum, with reviving consumer demand for automotive. 

KB Securities forecasted that Hyundai Motor Group will post 7.9 trillion won in operating profit in 2022, about 10.5 percent increase from this year, while 5.5 trillion won of operating profit in 2022 for Kia. 

“With the market gradually recovering from the aftermath of COVID-19 and solving the semiconductor supply chain issue, the automaker will have its operating profit increase compared to this year,” said Kang Sung-jin, researcher from KB Securities. 

According to market data, the global automotive market will see its demand increase 2.3 percent to 79 million cars in the next year, with some 6.3 million EV models globally, which is about a 58 percent increase on-year.