Kona helped boost sales 159 percent from a year earlier, thanks to Hyundai's first-quarter sales of electric vehicles to 21,148 units. Overseas sales more than tripled in the previous year.
Until now, power supplies for the Kona have been supplied by the South Korean company LG Chem, but in China Hyundai will use products from the Chinese manufacturer CATL. South Korean battery manufacturers have virtually no access to the Chinese market, the largest electric vehicle market since 2016. For the time being, Beijing only gives permission for subsidies to models equipped with Chinese power supplies.
Subsidies, which account for almost 40 percent of the purchase price of an electric vehicle, provide a significant competitive advantage for Chinese companies, which has enabled them to become the world's leading electric vehicle manufacturers.
Tightening China's green car requirements are forcing car manufacturers to sell more electric vehicles and hybrids in the country.
