Hyundai Kia Motors Restarting in the US Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Kia Motors is restarting efforts to expand sales in the U.S. market. Last month, Hyundai Motor's U.S. sales rebounded for the first time in five months since the COVID-19 pandemic, raising expectations that Hyundai Kia Motors could aggressively increase market share in the U.S. in the second half of the year.

According to industry sources on the 9th, Hyundai Motor's U.S. subsidiary sold 57,677 units (excluding Genesis) in July, a 0.6% increase compared to the same month last year. By model, the large sport utility vehicle (SUV) Palisade nearly doubled year-on-year to 8,404 units sold, and the small SUV Kona also increased by 11% to 7,077 units.

This is a relatively rapid recovery compared to global competing brands that still show double-digit declines year-on-year. Last month, Japanese car brands such as Honda (-12.6%), Toyota (-20.7%), and Subaru (-19.7%) continued to experience significant decreases in the U.S. market.

Hyundai Motor has set a goal to sell 350,000 units in the U.S. market in the second half of this year, a 25% increase compared to the first half, and has reorganized its strategy. The company plans to increase the SUV ratio, including key models Palisade and Kona, to 60%, and fully normalize the dealer sales network, which had suffered due to COVID-19, to actively boost sales.

Additionally, Hyundai's premium brand Genesis plans to raise local market share by consecutively launching new models recognized domestically, such as the G80 and GV80, in the second half of the year. Genesis conducted pre-orders for the G80 and GV80 in the U.S. in March and May respectively, with over 10,000 contracts already signed for the GV80.

Meanwhile, Kia Motors also sold 52,479 units in the U.S. market last month, reducing the year-on-year decline to the 1% range. The large SUV Telluride was also the main driver of Kia's local sales. In July alone, 4,822 Telluride units were sold, and buoyed by its popularity, Kia increased production from 80,000 units annually to about 100,000 units starting in July.

Researcher Woo Ji-woong of Ebest Investment & Securities analyzed, "In July, Hyundai Kia Motors recorded the best sales performance among most automakers in the U.S. local market," adding, "It is encouraging that Hyundai was the only company to show a year-on-year decrease in average incentives and recorded the lowest average incentives, surpassing Toyota."