Hyundai will take on Toyota with a big hybrid push in the US as the world’s third-largest carmaker aims to capitalise on surging demand amid sliding electric vehicle sales in America. The South Korean group unveiled an aggressive product roadmap of more than 100 new launches and refreshes by 2030, of which 58 will be in North America where it expects hybrids to account for more than half its sales. “North America is where our hybrid story became a scale story,” said José Muñoz, chief executive of Hyundai Motor, at its investor day on Wednesday. Hyundai’s hybrid sales in the US rose 71 per cent year on year during the second quarter.

The popularity of hybrids, due to higher fuel prices, has caught out Detroit’s Big Three carmakers, which offer few such models in the US. The group also plans to enter 18 new segments including mid-size pick-ups in a direct challenge to Ford, Toyota and General Motors in one of the most lucrative US segments. To address plummeting EV sales in the US following the cancellation of tax credits, Hyundai will launch range-extended EVs in the first half of next year.

Its Santa Fe range-extended EV, which has a small engine that acts only as a generator to top up the battery, will target more than 600 miles of total range and will be built at its Alabama plant. Hyundai’s heavy focus on the US comes as it faces intense competition from BYD and Chinese rivals in other markets such as Europe. Despite its ambitious product plans, Hyundai shares fell more than 3 per cent in Seoul.

However, the stock has gained about 36 per cent this year. “Hyundai has no other choice but to make a bigger push into the hybrid market to protect its margins and market share in the US with the hybrid market getting bigger there,” said Lee Hang-koo, a researcher at the Korea Automotive Technology Institute. Hyundai also plans to increase production capacity by 1.27mn vehicles by 2027, including 500,000 in North America. It aims to increase local parts sourcing in the US from 60 per cent to 80 per cent to address Donald Trump’s tariffs on auto imports.

Hyundai, which bought Boston Dynamics in 2021, also plans to compete with the likes of Tesla in humanoid robots and self-driving vehicles. The company said it expected to produce Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot in 2028 at its Georgia plant with 30,000 units of annual capacity. Tesla has said it aims to begin mass production of its Optimus robot by the end of this year with a longer-term target of producing 1mn units per year.