"Hyundai Kia to Launch 7 New Models in Second Half, Targeting Japanese Cars in ASEAN"

Hyundai Kia Motors to Launch 7 New Models in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam in Second Half
Popular Models Like Kona, Seltos, Sonet to Be Released
Aiming to Expand Market Share in ASEAN, the 'Japanese Car Stronghold'
Starting with Achieving No.1 Market Share in Vietnam to Target ASEAN Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Hyundai Kia Motors plans to launch seven new car models in the second half of this year to target the promising Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market. The strategy is to aggressively increase market share in the ASEAN market, which is dominated by Japanese cars, by introducing a large number of popular models whose product competitiveness has been verified in domestic and global markets.

According to the automotive industry on the 21st, Hyundai Kia Motors plans to launch a total of seven new cars including Kona, Sonata, Seltos, and Sonet in three markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam in the second half of this year.

Hyundai Kia Motors, Seven New Models Including Kona, Seltos, Sonet Ready for Launch

Hyundai Motor will launch three new models?Kona, Sonata, and Elantra?in Malaysia in the fourth quarter and is also considering launching new models in Vietnam. Kia Motors will launch the locally tailored sport utility vehicle (SUV) Sonet in Indonesia in the fourth quarter and will consecutively introduce the best-selling SUV Seltos in Vietnam (September) and Malaysia (fourth quarter).

Additionally, the mid-size SUV Sorento and the compact car Morning are being prepared for launch in Vietnam in the fourth quarter. Adding the Kona electric vehicle and Palisade, scheduled for release in Indonesia early next year, the total number of new Hyundai Kia models ready to enter the ASEAN market will increase to nine. The recent strengthening of Hyundai Kia Motors' new car marketing in the ASEAN market was largely driven by confidence gained from achieving the number one market share in Vietnam, surpassing Japanese car brands.

Hyundai Kona

From January to August this year, Hyundai Motor's Vietnamese joint venture Hyundai Thanh Cong sold 40,987 units in the Vietnamese market, rising to first place in the industry. Toyota, which sold 34,743 units, was pushed to second place. The third place was Kia Motors' Vietnamese joint venture Thaco Kia with 31,959 units sold. Based on last year's annual sales volume, Hyundai Motor narrowly surpassed Toyota in Vietnam, and this year, its market share (20.4%) up to August has overtaken Toyota's (17.3%).

In particular, the synergy from the sales joint venture established last year with the Vietnamese Thanh Cong Group to strengthen the sales network is showing significant results. Hyundai Motor entered Vietnam in 2007 and began local production in 2011 through a completely knocked down (CKD) assembly entrusted to Thanh Cong Group. In 2017, Hyundai Motor established a production joint venture (HTMV) with Thanh Cong Group to start direct production, and last year, they also established a sales joint venture.

ASEAN Market with Annual Volume of 3.5 Million Units... Hyundai Kia Motors Developing Production Bases in Indonesia and Singapore

Last year, the ASEAN automobile market, with an annual volume of 3.5 million units, was dominated by three countries: Indonesia (1.03 million units), Thailand (1.01 million units), and Malaysia (600,000 units), accounting for about 75% of the total market, while Vietnam's market size was about 430,000 units annually. To secure practical leadership in the ASEAN market, it is essential to target large markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia as well as Vietnam.

To this end, Hyundai Motor plans to sequentially launch new models mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia in the second half of this year and accelerate the establishment of production systems. Last year, Hyundai Motor signed an investment agreement with the Indonesian government for a local factory and decided to establish a plant with an annual capacity of 250,000 units, aiming to start operations by the end of 2021. By utilizing the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to reduce tariffs, the Indonesian plant will be developed as a production base for ASEAN.

Additionally, Singapore has been selected as a 'mobility innovation hub' to demonstrate mobility business through open innovation. Hyundai Motor plans to build an electric vehicle factory with an annual capacity of 30,000 units in Singapore by 2022. This factory will be a smart factory incorporating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics, serving as a 'test bed' for Hyundai Motor Group's intelligent manufacturing platform.

An industry insider said, "In the rapidly growing ASEAN market, competition with not only Japanese cars but also Chinese brands is inevitable," adding, "Especially, efforts at both corporate and government levels must be combined to secure a leading position in the ASEAN electric vehicle market and vehicle-sharing service market."