New Models to Be Rolled out in 2nd Half

A Palisade production line at Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant

Kia Motors beat Hyundai Motor in domestic sales of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the first half of 2020. Hyundai Motor sold a total of 101,309 SUVs in Korea in the first half, down 14.7 percent from 118,704 units a year earlier. During the same period, Kia sold 122,176 units, up 17.2 percent from a year before.

Even when sales of 17,007 units of the Genesis GV80 are included, Hyundai Motor lags behind Kia Motors. In 2019, Hyundai Motor sold 118,704 cars in the first half, surpassing Kia Motors' 112,615 units. For the whole of 2019, Hyundai sold 238,965 units, ahead of Kia’s 225,627 units.

The main reason for Hyundai Motor’s poor performance this year is the lack of a hit model. In contrast, Kia Motors’ new models enjoyed strong popularity in 2020.

Hyundai Motor saw sales of most of its models drop from the previous year except the new compact SUV Venue, which debuted in the second half of 2019 and sold 9,889 units in the first half of 2020. The Santa Fe sold 26,104 units, plunging 40.8 percent, while the Tucson (-34.8 percent), Kona (-13.5 percent) and Palisade (-1.5 percent) also saw their sales shrink from the previous year. In the case of the Santa Fe, expectations for the launch of a new model impacted its sales.

Only the Nexo, a hydrogen-powered vehicle, posted an increase of 69.0 percent year-on-year by selling 2,612 units, but the figure was not large enough to change its overall performance.

The Genesis GV80, which was launched in early 2020, initially made a sensation. But Hyundai Motor has been delaying its shipment since consumer complaints arose in early June that some of its diesel model generates vibrations.

On the other hand, Kia Motors sold 37,867 units of the all-new Sorento model for 2020, up 41.9 percent from the previous year. Sales of a new Mohave model launched in September 2019, the first partial change model in eight years, jumped 795.0 percent by hitting 10,008 units in 2020. On top of that, the small SUV Seltos, which went on sale in the second half of 2019, contributed to improving Kia Motors’ business performance by adding 29,149 units in sales.

In response, Hyundai Motor plans to make a comeback by introducing many new SUV models in the second half of 2020. It has recently rolled off a partially changed version of its flagship SUV Santa Fe, and the Tucson's full change model is also set to be launched within this year. The two changed models are expected to become smash hits in the SUV market. The Santa Fe and the Tucson accounted for 51 percent of Hyundai Motor’s SUV sales in 2019. In addition, Hyundai is expected to release a partially changed version of the Kona soon, so the SUV lineup will be filled with new models before long.

"Sales of our SUV lineup were sluggish in the first half of the year as we did not launch new models," a Hyundai Motor official said. "Our sales will recover as new models are waiting to be launched. They include the recently released Santa Fe."

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