Different Approach

Hyundai Motor was late in responding to the expansion of SUV sales in the US, giving rise to the overall sluggish sales.
Hyundai Motor was late in responding to the expansion of SUV sales in the US, giving rise to the overall sluggish sales.

 

Hyundai Motor is delaying the launches of new models in the Korean market. This is because existing models are showing strong sales. On the other hand, Hyundai Motor is moving up the launches of new models in the US market as it has been pointed out that the automaker was late in responding in the US where sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are becoming popular.

According to the automobile industry on November 12, Hyundai Motor plans to launch a new Veloster model (JS), which was originally scheduled to be released this year, in the Korean market early next year. In July, the automaker announced that it would release a new car around the end of the year, but its launch was put off. The mid-sized SUV “Santa Fe,” which was rumored to be launched several times this year, will also hit the market in February or March of next year. 

Hyundai is postponing the launches of new models planned within this year to early next year because domestic sales are on the rise. This year, its domestic sales volume swelled 7.9% year on year to 571,683 units in total until this October. The Grandeur IG sold more than 10,000 units a month on average, recording 110,000 units in total sales this year and sales of the Sonata New Rise, the Kona, the Genesis G70 and others are strong. Hyundai's market share is expected to reach 38.7% this year, bringing a halt to a drop in its domestic share in five years by chalking up a 38.7% share this year.

To Hyundai Motor, the US market is in contrast with the Korean market. Hyundai planned to launch the small SUV “Kona” in the US market in the first half of next year. However, the automaker revised its sales strategy to launch it before the Christmas season. Hyundai also introduced a guarantee program that will give customers a full refund if they do not like their Hyundai cars within three days after purchasing them in order to expand sales in October. Hyundai is actually the first to run a constant refund program in the automobile industry. This suggested that Hyundai's US sales were sluggish. 

In fact, Hyundai sold 564,750 units in the United States, down 13.1% from the previous year. Considering that its main competitors such as Japanese Honda, Nissan and Toyota all enjoyed slight increases in sales (0.3% to 1.8%), a serious situation is facing Hyundai Motor. Its weak sales in China were blamed on some external factors such as China’s retaliation against South Korea for its deployment of the THAAD system. But in the US, a lack of mainstream models such as pick-up trucks was the main reason for Hyundai’s sluggish sales. "In the Korean market, Hyundai caught a change where many customers in their 30s and 40s chose the Grandeur over the Sonata, which led to a rise in sales. But in the US, Hyundai was late in responding to the expansion of SUV sales, giving rise to the overall sluggish sales,” said an official of the Korean automobile industry. “It is needed for Hyundai Motor to differentiate responses by region." 

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