Falling Competitiveness
It has been found that Hyundai Motor’s market capitalization slipped to 13th place among global automakers.
According to Bloomberg on October 30, a total of 17 companies were included in the automobile sector of the top 500 companies in the world based on stock prices at the close of the stock market on October 28.
The first-ranker was Japan’s Toyota with US$ 191.47 billion. Its market capitalization was about seven times that (US$ 26.98 billion) of Hyundai Motor. Toyota was followed by Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz with US$ 75.97 billion, Volkswagen with US$ 71.65 billion and BMW with US$ 56.47 billion, all of the three are German automakers.
Japan’s Honda picked up 5th place with US$ 54.16 billion while GM and Ford of the US ranked sixth and seventh with US$ 47.74 billion and US$ 46.57 billion, respectively. Nissan of Japan nabbed eighth place with US$ 42.75 billion.
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) sat ninth with US$ 38.03 billion while Tesla, an electric car maker of the US, came in tenth with US$ 29.95 billion.
Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan which will rename itself Subaru after its car brand next year and Audi, a German automaker, finished in 11th and 12th with US$ 29.93 billion and US$ 29.11 billion, respectively.
Hyundai Motor took 13th place with US$ 26.98 billion. Only two years ago, in October 2014, Hyundai Motor came in eighth. But since then, Hyundai Motor has been relegated below the top ten by new players such as SAIC and Tesla.
In terms of market capitalization, Hyundai had narrow gaps with India’s Maruti Suzuki (US$ 26.57 billion) and Tata Motors (US$ 25.86 billion) and France’s Renault (US$ 25.69 billion. Maruti Suzuki is a joint venture between India’s Maruti and Japan’s Suzuki and the largest automaker of India. Tata Motors is the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover.
Even if the market capitalization (US$ 14.55 billion) of Kia Motors, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, is added to that of Hyundai Motor, the total market capitalization will reach US$ 41.53 billion, less than that (US$ 42.75 billion) of eight-ranked Nissan
The market capitalization of Hyundai and Kia combined ranked third after Toyota and Volkswagen only in the second half of 2012.
Hyundai Motor underwent humiliation by falling to fifth place from second place in the KOSPI stock market in terms of market capitalization as well. The stock price of Hyundai Motor recently hit 140.500 won (US$125.7) at the closing bell of the stock market. It peaked at 268,500 won (US$240.3) on April 9, 2012. Over the period, Hyundai Motor’s market capitalization dropped by 28 trillion won.