Lowering Sales Target
It has been found that the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group lowered its sales target of next year by 500,000 units compared to this year. This was the first time that the group slashed its by judging that it is difficult to recover from sluggish sales in major markets such as China and the United States in the short term.
According to the automobile industry and the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group on December 3, Hyundai and Kia set 7.7 million units as their sales target of next year. The group lowered its sales target by 500,000 units (6.6%) compared to 8.6 million units, this year’s target.
Hyundai Motor cut its annual sales target by more than 300,000 units to 4.8 million units, down from 508 million units, this year’s sales target and Kia Motors pruned next year’s sale target to 2.95 million units from 3.17 million units, this year’s sales target.
It was virtually the first time that Hyundai and Kia significantly lowered their annual sales targets. Except for a slight adjustment of 70,000 units (0.8%) to the 2016 sales target compared with that of the previous year, the automakers have continuously raised their targets every year. In particular, last year, actual sales ran to 7.88 million units, falling short of the target (8.13 million units) but they raised this year’s target to 8.25 million units.
"Even given a sudden variable of the aftermaths of the deployment of the terminal high altitude area defense system (THAAD), Hyundai Motor’s sales performance in the Chinese and US markets, core markets for Hyundai, deteriorated a great deal," an industry official said. “Based on the realistic belief that short-term recovery is difficult, It seems to have been modified."
Hyundai and Kia's cumulative global sales from January to November of this year added up to 6.59 million units, down 6.8% from the same period last year. Their total sales in the US market slid 18.4% during the same period and sales in the Chinese market shrank 40% from January to October of this year. Their annual sales volume is expected to reach a 7.2 million unit level this year.