Posted 1/18/2018 5:47:16 PM
Its dealers closed 2017 with a profitability above 2%
MADRID, Jan. 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The South Korean automotive firm Hyundai expects to close this year with a volume of sales in Spain of about 62,000 units, which will represent a progression of 12% compared to 2017 data, announced the CEO of the firm in the Spanish market , Leopoldo Satrústegui.
In a meeting with the press, the executive recalled that Hyundai enrolled more than 55,000 units during the past year in Spain, achieving a progression of 8.4%, above the market, and a market share of 4.44%, although in 2018 this figure will increase to 4.7%.
Satrústegui indicated that the commercial growth of his company in Spain in 2018 will be framed in a national automobile market that will experience a progression of between 6% and 10%, surpassing the 1.3 million units.
“This year will be good, especially in the segment of SUVs and with gasoline exceeding diesel,” said the executive, who stressed that sales have to continue to recover to an adequate level for the capacity of the country, which would be in between 1.35 and 1.4 million units annually.
Despite these growths, the general manager of Hyundai in Spain indicated that the Spanish automobile fleet is one of the oldest, with twelve years on average, so he advocated the implementation of a scrappage plan that encourages renewal of old vehicles for new ones safer and less polluting.
In addition, he also requested that a structural plan to support the alternative energy vehicle be implemented, given that, in his opinion, the occasional measures are not working, since they last for a short time and then retain the demand until there is a new program, such and as has happened with the Movalt Plan.
“Without a plan for electric vehicles is not sold, so a structural program is needed to revitalize the market,” said the manager of the firm, which stressed that last year his company sold more than 3,000 units of the Ioniq (with versions electrical, hybrid and plug-in hybrids) and the forecast is to reach 4,500 units in 2018.
PROFITABILITY ABOVE 2%.
On the other hand, Satrústegui stressed that last year its network of dealers obtained an average return on turnover above 2%, with 2.3%, in a new year with positive figures after that in 2012 the commercial network of the The firm will achieve its last negative profitability results.
These positive figures have contributed to the evolution experienced by the Tucson, the best-selling model of the brand in Spain, as well as the arrival at the end of the year of the Kona, which will be the main driver of Hyundai’s registrations in 2018. The company has the corporate goal of being the first Asian brand by volume of sales in Europe by 2021, a goal that also hopes to achieve in Spain.
In addition, the general manager of the brand in Spain said that almost all of its dealers have adapted to the new corporate standards and noted that the forecast is to reach 2020 with 85 dealers and 225 points of sale, compared to 81 dealers and 172 current points. In 2018, the firm will open between 15 and 20 new points of sale, after inaugurating ten in 2017.
On the other hand, Satrústegui assured that there is no “short-term” plan to enter the car sharing business as a brand in Spain, although he did not rule out this possibility in the future. He also indicated that in Europe his company plans to introduce its global brand Hyundai Capital in some markets, something that will be done progressively in different European countries.