Ranking
11 of 18
Comparison
(12) in 2025
Total Score
Environment
Human Rights
* Automotive sales data from Marklines. All figures are cumulative annual values for the year 2024. The data covers passenger vehicles only.
Summary
For the second year running, Kia achieved the second largest overall score increase, jointly with Volkswagen, Tesla, and Volvo. The company consistently improved its performance across all the Leaderboard subsections except for Workers’ Rights in the Supply Chain. This has enabled Kia to move up yet again by one place in the overall ranking, rising to 11th place. However, with a total overall achievement score of just 21%, the company is only actually meeting one fifth of the Leaderboard indicators, and has much to improve.
In the Climate and Environment section, Kia made the largest improvement in the General subsection, increasing its score by an impressive 21 percentage points. This was driven by clearer supplier requirements for emissions reduction and more detailed disclosure on supplier progress. Kia also improved its scores on mitigating water and deforestation risks in its supply chain by providing more granular information on the measures it has undertaken.
In contrast, its improvement in the steel, aluminium and battery subsections were marginal, with improvements limited solely to the circularity indicators. However, Kia remains a weak performer on steel and aluminium decarbonization.
While improving in most human rights subsections, Kia’s rate of progress this year has not matched that of last year. Its moderate progress compared to other companies has caused the company to fall back by one place in the overall human rights ranking.
Key Findings
- Disclosed the percentage of Tier 1 suppliers with GHG emissions targets for the first time, improving transparency on supply chain decarbonization efforts.
- The top-scoring automaker on battery repurposing, alongside Geely, disclosing detailed information on multiple battery repurposing initiatives, together with quantitative data on batteries collected for repair, reuse and remanufacturing.
- Has established a new, although vague and unambitious, target to use carbon-reduced steel (e.g., produced with electric arc furnaces) in mass-produced vehicles for the first time before 2030, as well as hydrogen-based steel “in the long-term,” but does not disclose additional details.
- Discloses plans to use smelter certification and conduct on-site due diligence based on OECD Guidelines in its responsible minerals management plan for battery materials, but does not provide evidence of due diligence implementation for specific supply chains or contexts.
- Still does not require suppliers to respect all human rights, and lacks a supply chain grievance mechanism.
- Has a strong process for identifying high risk suppliers which extend beyond Tier 1, though the company fails to explain whether this also applies before signing sourcing contracts.
- Lost momentum on disclosure, still failing to publish details about the company’s risk identification process and the identified salient human rights risks.
- Has begun to implement supply chain mapping to the point of extraction, but has not yet disclosed any concrete information emerging from these efforts.
- Has taken an important first step on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights by expressly including risks to Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the company’s risk identification process. However, the company is yet to publicly commit to respecting UNDRIP and FPIC, and require this same commitment from suppliers.
- Did not make any progress on workers’ rights in the supply chain.
Score Breakdown
Fossil-Free & Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chains
General
Steel
Aluminum
Batteries
Compare by year
* InfluenceMap scores were applied as a multiplier to the total Fossil-free & Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chains score. See methodology for further details.
Human Rights & Responsible Resourcing
General
Minerals
Indigenous' Rights
Workers' Rights
Compare by year
Supply Chain News & Progress
Latest on Kia
Supply chain transformation is a risk management imperative and opportunity for a competitive edge. Leading brands are already securing a first-mover advantage and leveraging their power to transform legacy supply chains into a force for good. The revolution is underway.
Hyundai sued by Department of Labor over use of child labor and faces new prison labor allegations
Hyundai Motor Company, together with an auto parts plant and a labor recruiter, have been sued by the U.S. Department of Labor over the illegal use of child labor in Alabama. Reuters reported in 2022 that children, some as young as 12, worked for a Hyundai subsidiary and in other parts suppliers for the company in the Southern state.
A report by Bloomberg published the same month also names a supplier of Hyundai Motor Company as profiting from the forced labor of incarcerated workers in the U.S.
Hyundai Steel produces low-carbon, high-strength steel plates
Hyundai Steel says it has become the first steelmaker globally to produce high-strength steel plates by using an electric arc furnace, which helps reduce carbon emissions drastically during the whole process… part of the company’s carbon neutrality initiative, dubbed “Hy-Cube,” with a goal of switching completely to hydrogen-based steel production by 2030.
Pollution, child labour, workers’ rights violations and new coal-fired power plants in Hyundai-Kia’s supply chains
According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Hyundai-Kia’s supply chains have been linked to child labour and workers’ rights violations. Reports also implicate Hyundai-Kia’s supply chains with air pollution and premature deaths in South Korea and environmental contamination in Indonesia.
Hyundai Motor Company also signed an MoU to purchase aluminium from Adaro in Indonesia, which would be powered by new coal-fired power plants.
Our Vision
The future is an automotive industry where all vehicles are made:
01 — Equitably
Respecting and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, workers, and local communities throughout the supply chain.
02 — Sustainably
Preserving and restoring environmental health and biodiversity across supply chains, while reducing primary resource demand through efficient resource use and increased recycled content.
03 — Fossil-free
100% electric and made with a fossil fuel-free supply chain.
