Hyundai Becomes World's No. 3 Automaker

Hyundai is now the world's No. 3 automaker in terms of cars sold.

It sold 3.29 million vehicles in the first half of this year to rank third after Toyota (5.13 million) and Volkswagen (4 million).

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance came fourth (3.14 million) and Stellantis fifth (3.03 million).

The key seems to have been its ability to maintain a relatively steady supply of automotive computer chips amid a global shortage. Another reason was that it tapped the market for electric cars in the U.S. and Europe.

Hyundai ranked third in Europe's market for environmentally friendly cars with an 11.5 percent share in the first half of this year behind regional powers Volkswagen and Stellantis.

The bestsellers are the Kona and Ionic 5 EVs.

It also ranked a distant second in the U.S. EV market after Tesla with a nine-percent share compared to Tesla's 70 percent.