Posted on 11/12/2018 4:27:17 PM PST by Zhang Fei
At a near-empty Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) showroom in the Chinese mega city of Chongqing, the store manager is grumbling about his shortage of customers and a lack of bigger, cheaper SUV models popular in the world’s largest auto market.
Even with discounting of as much as 25 percent, his dealership was selling barely a hundred vehicles a month, said the manager surnamed Li. A nearby Nissan (7201.T) dealership was selling about 400 vehicles a month, a store manager there said.
“The sales are simply poor,” Li told Reuters. “Look at the Nissan store next door, they have tens of customers while we just have two.”
An hour’s drive away is Hyundai’s massive $1 billion manufacturing plant, which opened last year with a target to produce 300,000 vehicles per year.
But with sales weak and the Chinese auto market slowing sharply, the factory is running at roughly 30 percent of capacity, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The sources asked not to be identified because the information was not public.
Hyundai, the world’s 5th largest automaker, declined to comment on the Chongqing plant’s production or the showroom’s sales but said it is “closely cooperating” with local partner BAIC (1958.HK) to turn around the China business. BAIC did not respond to requests for comment.
Hyundai’s woes mark a major reversal for the automaker which was an early success story in China as it quickly and cheaply rolled out popular new models into a surging market.
In 2009, Hyundai and partner Kia’s combined sales ranked third in China after General Motors (GM.N) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE).
The South Korean duo now ranks ninth and its market share in China has more than halved to 4 percent last year, from more than 10 percent at the beginning of this decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
In the US, they broke away the Genesis ticking off a lot of Hyundai dealers.
And not 1 in 10 customers knows what a Genesis is!
Resale value on Hyundai’s are terrible. For those who keep them for up to 200k miles; they are a good buy though. Hard to beat the 100k warranty too.
I thought they were made in S. Korea. Do they all get made in China?
Have owned 3 Hyundais since 2011. Have been very pleased with the 11 Sonata, 16 Tuscon and my daughter adores her 18 Kona. Cars are well designed and the service, though this can vary depending on the dealer, has been Saturn like. Saturns were our go to car from 93 till Barky had GM destroy the brand, though from 05 on they were less Saturn and more straight GM.
Probably the nicest thing I will ever own. 429 hp and the same stereo as a Roll Royce Phantom.
[In the US, they broke away the Genesis ticking off a lot of Hyundai dealers.
And not 1 in 10 customers knows what a Genesis is!]
I’ve read the rave reviews of the Kia Stinger GT. Price isn’t exactly cheap at $45-$55k, but it a note upscale Kia, sorry odd like the Genesis branding.
They used to offer a V6 Sonata. Good power to weight ratio. Then they pulled the V6 offering, and you had to pay Genesis prices to get a nice engine in a sedan. Toyota still offered a 2018 a V6 Camry (although Honda has ditched the Accord).
* more upscale.
* sort of like the Genesis branding.
Hyundais are made in Georgia; Kias in Alabama.
I do know someone who drives the same car. White dude and the only thing he knows the customer service from the dealership was excellent. Obviously they were Koreans but every time there was a minor issue, they replace or fix it asap.
We have owned 4 Hyundais. We will own a 5th soon.
Great cars. Fair price. Excellent warranty.
L
I traded in a 2008 Acura TL on a 2018 Hyundai Sonata Limited. There isn’t much I miss about the TL considering what the Sonata gives me. It’s a 4 cylinder with 185Hp. I get about 35mpg on the highway.
It’s comfortable, well appointed, and reliable.
They gave me 500 for being a veteran, 500 for owning a Hyundai, (my wife has a Santa Fe), and I got 500 from Nationwide. The cost, out the door was $23.5k. Cheaper than Accord, Camry, or Maxima.
[They used to offer a V6 Sonata. Good power to weight ratio. Then they pulled the V6 offering, and you had to pay Genesis prices to get a nice engine in a sedan. Toyota still offered a 2018 a V6 Camry (although Honda has ditched the Accord).]
Still like my 2012 Kia Sportage EX, but thinking odd a new Niro hybrid. I bought my Sportage with the 32/28 mpg as the main selling point. Actual combined is more like 25 and that’s with me hypermiling to conserve gas. The Niro will get 52 all day and hypermiling prickly in the high 60s.
At least the Kia settlement mpg program will reimburse as long as I own the car. They have refunded me a couple of $100 gift cards based on the mileage driven and the local gas pricesn
Other way around. The Kia plant is in West Point, GA, near the AL line.
There is a relatively new Hyundai $1.7 billion manufacturing plant (2003-04) in Montgomery, Alabama.
My daughter had a 2005 Hyundai Accent. Good reliable basic transportation. Also very comfortable and smooth riding for such a small car.
“In the US, they broke away the Genesis ticking off a lot of Hyundai dealers.”
Broke away?
For some reason, I have been given free subscriptions to 3 different car magazines. Until I began reading them I knew almost nothing about the later model cars.
One thing which surprised me is Hyundai is now one of the most reliable brands. They were once one of the worst.
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