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To beat sluggish domestic demand and a rising Korean won, South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. aims to sell more premium vehicles overseas.
The country's dominant auto maker has fared well in recent years with robust sales of sedans such as the Sonata and the Elantra compact. But with foreign rivals encroaching on its home turf and the rising won threatening earnings, Hyundai is shifting focus to the higher end of the auto market.We are selling more of the lucrative sport-utility vehicles and mid- and large-size sedans," said Chief Operating Officer Im Tak-Uk.
Upscale models accounted for only a third of the 4.41 million vehicles Hyundai sold world-wide last year, while small passenger cars made up more than 60 percent. The company targets total sales of 4.66 million vehicles this year, and Mr. Im said "raising prices is also an option" to bolster earnings.
Hyundai sold 425,782 SUVs such as the Santa Fe and Tucson and higher-end sedans such as the Equus, Genesis and Azera to the U.S., China and the Mideast last year, 26% more than two years earlier.
China remains a bright spot for Hyundai, and it expects sales in the country to rise 13% this year. The U.S., Hyundai's second-largest overseas market, after China, remains challenging.
Hyundai's revamped Genesis sedan and Sonata aren't expected to hit the U.S. market until next year, though it introduced the seven-seater Santa Fe SUV in the U.S. last month.
"If Japanese car makers become aggressive in raising incentives and the red light comes on in achieving our sales target in the U.S., we will consider raising incentives [for buyers] in the U.S.," said Mr. Im, who is in charge of Hyundai's international operations.
Hyundai's U.S. sales in January were up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, far short of the 14 percent pace set by the U.S. car market as a whole. For the full year, the company aims to sell 734,000 vehicles in the U.S., up 4.4 percent from a year earlier.
"If Hyundai posts a strong performance with its SUV models, it will help cushion the impact of unfavorable currency moves and the lack of new cars," said Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.
The auto maker is set to introduce only one model to the domestic market this year, the all-new Genesis sedan.
Courtesy of The Wallstreet Journal
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