Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News for more on the Auto Outlook and the EV Outlook. I'm please to say we're joined now by Hyundai North American CEO and Global COO Jose Munez, as well as Bloomberg's owned Matt Miller, our resident car guy. Let's kick off this conversation with what's going on at your Georgia plant. Bloomberg reported in April that Hyundai is going to spend more at that
plan to produce more hybrid vehicles. Are you still betting that it's going to be the full battery evs that are going to dominate?
Well, good afternoon, Thank you for having me. It's good to see you, Matt. Well, we are still very confident, and I was visiting our plant in Savannah last week and I'm happy to report that we'll be able to produce three months ahead of a schedule. So by October this year we will start producing our very popular Ionique five. So I think that's that's great. We're very cold. And then, as I've said many times, we continue to double down on our bed for electrification and we're happy to continue
with that. So your question about the hybrid we've also seen that the evolution of EV sales in the industry maybe not as fast as everybody expected or as the regulation would expect. And then we have seen also that a number of consumers are betting for maybe alternative fuel types beyond ice, like hybrids and planking hybrids. And that's why we have decided that in our plant in Savannah,
we're going to produce also hybrid vehicles. This is going to imply, of course, an increase on investment, but we believe is needed and we are very happy to see the reaction of our dealers and our stakeholders as we have announced.
That is the Ionic five. By the way, great to see you as well, Hose. The Ionic five n hit the market, wowing a lot of people with the sort of ic emulation and sporty performance. Is that thing sold out already? I mean, what are the orders looking like for that? Well?
I only five and is unbelievable. I think the few you noticed, like you Matt, know really what this car can do. It's more than six hundred and forty horsepower. He just made it to the performance card of the Year in the World Car event that took place in New York in April and this is only after two years earlier the Ionique five became work out of the Year, Evy kind of the year and designed Ify kind of the year. I think this is one of the few cars that could raise you in one of your motorcycles
and bid you. But then I'll leave it to an opportunity in the future.
I look forward to it. Ose listen, the price tag continues to get higher as these cars gained popularity with consumers. Obviously, the I has done well. This one costs I think north of sixty five thousand dollars and the Genesis product is doing so well that you're able to take more price there. Do you see that power increasing even as it's falling for your competitors.
Well, we really do see the power increasing. So we really believe that the future is going to be electric. So it's not a matter of if, but when is. You go to Europe, I think there is about a twenty percent mix of ebs. You go to other regions like China is about thirty percent. We are stable in the United States about eight percent. But in our case,
we continue to do very well this year. Today we have increased our sales of vs by more than fifty percent, and last year we doubled our sales of FBS, So if anything, those vehicles are helping our company to position themselves in a better place. So in fact, in the United States as a group, we are number three on retail sales, but on eb sales we're number two, only
behind Tesla, So we are confident. But to your point about affordability, what we have seen is that if you compare the prices two years ago, the prices have gone down about fifteen thousand dollars in average, but some more ems, including us or in our case, taking the lead, we're
bringing new high performance versions that the consumers like. I think we're working also on trying to bring the prices down so that it is not only a matter of performance but also affordability and convenience plus chatting infrastructure, et cetera. But that's what we are, that's what we want to do.
And Hose, I want to talk a little bit more about your Genesis brand and full disclosure. Actually drive a Genesis, But even outside of myself, I'm seeing more and more of them on the road, on the highways, and I'm curious, who are you positioned to be taking share from? Are you going up against Mercedes BMW's for example.
Well, first and foremost, I agree with you, So I think we've we've done quite well. And in the last the nineges that we've been in the market with more than increase of volume eight x right, and then we continue to grow. We are outpacing the market. In the market on luxury is about flat. We're growing more than three percent, driven by our subs, mainly so the GB eighty, the GV seventy that we produce in the United States, including and IV, they're the ones that are doing the
best job for us. But also you know the set ads that we bring to the market. So we're very pleased. And in fact, we have started now to have exclusive dealers to the about thirty five so far and we want to take this number to about one hundred hopefully
in about one year or so. And as we increase the number of exclusive dealers and we continue to bring new products like right now we're about to launch the GV eighty a coup we see the sales growing strongly, the dealers making good profits step by step, and we're creating the brand. So our main competitors are not three competitors and then in the EB field, of course you have Tesla, but in the other technologies the German three so SIDS, BMW and ADI are our reference. So we
are still behind, but we're working hard. And then the way we made it today, I think it's being faster than most of our competitors before.
I talked to some Bloomberg Intelligence analysts who say, part of the key to your success is your strong relationship with the dealer network. I have a lot of dealer friends who are angry at you know, domestic automakers when they talk about ad ms and talk about selling directly to consumers, but dealers are all happy to sell Hyundai's Ki as Genesis. How do you keep that relationship strong even in the bad times.
Well, that's really a key success factor. You said it better is so we praise our dealers and particularly the members of the Dealer Advisory Board on both Genesis and Hyundai, because they've been with the brand for many years now and they've seen the evolution of the brand, and at this moment, they're very supportive of the strategy that our executive chair Mister Chung is established for the global operations.
And one of the things that we do is that we meet on a regular basis in person and then we genuinely listen with good intention. And I can tell you that because the results have been better, because we were able to implement the strategies that the dealers gave us good ideas about it, et cetera, the dealers are happier than ever before. They're making more money and they
are investing. So ultimately, the chairman of the Genesis Retailer Advisory Board, Kevin Riley from a DC, he told me recently, you know, is not a matter of the different surveys of what they can tell you. When you see the dealers are putting their money in your brand, investing in facilities which are exclusive, this is when you know you're doing something right. And then I could say the same thing with Andy Wright, who is the chairman of the advisory board for Hyundai, which is also one of our
best performing dealers investing, et cetera, et cetera. We continue to have a dialogue listening to them and trying to work together as a team.
All right, Jose, Unfortunately we have to leave it there. I hope to speak to you again soon. Our thanks, of course to Hyundai North America CEO and Global COO Jose Munez, and of course, our own Bloomberg's car guy Matt Miller,