Hyundai
Santa Fe of Hyundai: The hope-bringer in the USA
The South Korean automobile group Hyundai Motor missed its sales targets again in the past year. Nevertheless, the fifth-largest car manufacturer in the world wants to sell this year with 7.6 million vehicles 3 percent more than last year. For 2018, Hyundai had with its car brands Hyundai and Kia Motors actually made a sales volume of 7.55 (previous year: 2.25) million vehicles and missed for the fourth year in a row, the sales targets.
The numbers did not convince investors: the Hyundai shares Show stock market chart lost 3.8 percent and Kia papers plummeted 2.7 percent.
Hyundai has not been around for some time. For five consecutive years, profits were down, mainly due to weaker sales in the US and China, the world’s two largest auto markets. To turn the rudder in the US, the South Koreans are now hoping for the new SUV model Santa Fe. For a long time, they had missed the trend for off-road sedans.
“Uncertainties in the economy are increasing as the world economy continues to fluctuate, with protective walls being erected around the world,” said chief executive Euisun Chung to hundreds of employees at Seoul’s corporate headquarters in his New Year’s speech. “Internally, we face challenging challenges such as stabilizing business in key markets such as the US and China, while at the same time improving our responsiveness to drive future growth.”
Chung also pledged to “actively communicate with shareholders”, an obvious reference to US hedge fund Elliott, 2018 had prevented a restructuring plan, To appease Elliott, Hyundai announced shortly before the turn of the year, to invest just under six billion euros in the production of fuel cell vehicles. In addition, the group called for the first time a non-Korean development chief, the former BMW manager Albert Biermann.
Hyundai plans to launch 13 new models or facelifted models this year, including a premium Genesis SUV and the Sonata sedan. “Hyundai will bring new models to the market, but competitors will do as well, making it difficult for Hyundai to increase exposure to weak markets in China, the US and Europe,” commented Sean Kim, an analyst with Dongbu Securities.
mg / rtr