[Punatic]

"Hyundai ran into problems in China and the United States for similar reasons: It missed shifts in consumer tastes, especially the surge in demand for SUVs, and it sought higher prices than its brand image could command" as per this Reuters story.

They've fallen from 3rd to 9th by market-share in China, and are close to their 10-year low market-share wise in the US.

Hopefully they'll rectify these mistakes in India and manage to stay near the top.

[Avenger_123]

Quite apparent at least here in US. I own a Santa Fe, and I absolutely love the car. Barring this and the Tucson, you hardly see any other models - especially the new generation Sonata/Elantra or even the Genesis cars on road.
I am yet to even see the new gen Santa Fe on road.

With the automotive market looking at a slow down globally and shift towards electric/hybrid Hyundai needs to get it's act together. They need to urgently get bigger models and bigger engines, to make sure they don't lose the hard earned goodwill. It will be a tough fight especially with GM/Ford and others.

Probably India is the only saving grace, not sure how much that contributes to the overall numbers at corporate level though, I believe they should stop Genesis and focus on Kia/Hyundai - develop bigger SUV's/trucks, and even a van, launch performance based cars like the N series etc. to keep few options. I am just worried by the time they come with bigger vehicles, electric vehicles will be more mature in the market, else go and acquire/ tie up with some other company as potential targets to bridge gap if possible like Subaru etc. Either way will be a long climb back, the recent recalls also won't help the case !!

[extreme_torque]

Hyundai's for sure have increased in price and I agree when the article says its beyond what the brand can command. I was looking at a small SUV and I quite like the Hyundai Kona but the top end variant with a 1.6 Turbo petrol is an eye bleeding $37000 in Australia. I was genuinely shocked and surprised at the pricing. To give you a perspective, a mid grade Ford Kuga with 2.0 Ecoboost with discounts would be cheaper on the road than the Kona and is a class bigger and therefore a lot more capable.

Similar story with the new Santa Fe, which costs more than $60k for the top end variant. For the same money you could have the lot more classier and better overall Mazda CX-9 or the tried and tested Toyota Kluger (Highlander in USA) with a stonking 3.5 liter direct injected V6 - a smooth bulletproof engine. They are not bad cars but a bit too expensive now.

[srishiva]

Its a lesson for many Indian car makers too. Honda, Jeep or anyone. Its even more pertinent to Indian car makers if they want to eke out a good amount of share. You need vehicles in all classes and provide value for money to be in public's memory.

I am not sure about China but in US Hyundai can still recover by bringing more electric vehicles. It could be same in other parts of the world for them.

[Punatic]

Originally Posted by Avenger_123

Probably India is the only saving grace

They certainly seem to have the finger on the pulse here, and I hope they continue to demonstrate that by launching the Carlino in 2019 and price it competitively. Fingers crossed!

[maddy42]

Owner of a genesis coupe and i can vouch for some reasons for the decay listing it below:


Their Sonata and Elantra models were hits, but the refresh versions never took off unlike a honda or toyota.
Their SUVs are doing good, but still need to convince various buyers of a Mazda or Toyota and Honda to even give it a try.

Their dealership network is poor in rural areas of the US and very scummy! Personal experience on service is pathetic with multiple returns for the same issues. You will have high school kids trying to fix your car and a service advisor charging 90 bucks to replace cabin air filters(cost less than 20 bucks at autozone). Friend who owns a c class bought a santa fe. At his first service, the Hyundai SA had no idea what needed to be done.
They have totally messed up the genesis brand to say the least. They tried launching a new showroom, but dealerships objected to it and now have one or two models with the genesis badge and have culled the coupes.


Hopefully their Kona could get them back in the game. They have already run out of batteries for the same though.


Maddy

[greenhorn]

Hyundai and Kia are in a similar basket as tata in india - Once upon a time, they built cheap cars that sold only on value to a demographic which didn't have many alternatives.
Now they have cars that get nice reviews, are competitive with the best, and are priced a bit more upmarket given their intentions and the cars capabilities, but they continue to get dragged down by their existing dealer network which is still stuck in the old days, and looking to sell to the same demographic

[Vikram Arya]

I can’t say about China however in North American market Hyundai is doing fairly well. My comments are strictly in the context of the North American market.

October 2018 YTD sales figures are as under for the US market. Please note that this table does not contain GM numbers as they are reporting only their quarterly sales figures. Also some of the other very minor players have been left out.



Hyundai comes in at 8th from the top (GM numbers not in the table); not bad considering 10 years ago Hyundai wouldn’t even be in the consideration set for a lot of potential car buyers.

As can be seen, they have a 4.65% market share which is 1.66% higher than what it was last year this time. Ford, Honda & Nissan have lost market share and a part of that seems to have been lapped up by Toyota, it seems.

If you combine Kia sales, then their market share translates into whopping 8.8% which is higher than Nissan and within breathing distance of Honda and that is saying something.

I do agree however that some of the designs on their mainstream vehicles may have turned off some of the potential buyers however if you look at some of the designs coming from Honda, Toyota & Nissan; their designs are equally good/bad if I may say so. I was recently in a Honda dealer to look at the 2019 Civic Si and I saw the new Accord and I was aghast as to how brutally they have destroyed (no offense intended to 2018/2019 Accord buyers) what was once a beautiful and elegant design (till 2015 at least).

Hyundai sells a quarter of million Sonatas in the North American market every year. Santa Fe & Tuscan also sell close to 100,000 units every year with Elantra clocking an annual sale of about 200,000 units in the US market.

I have my serious doubt if a pickup truck manufactured by Hyundai will be acceptable to the potential buyer in North America as a large majority of these folks still want to buy American (just look at the largest selling vehicle in North America; it is a Ford F-150). I’m sure you would know that both Toyota and Nissan have been trying to crack the quarter ton and half ton market for years and Toyota only seems to have made a little dent.

In 2017 Ford sold close to 900,000 F-150s as opposed to 116,285 Toyota Tundra and 52,924 Nissan Titan pick up trucks. Toyota fairs a bit better with their Tacoma (198,124 sold in 2017) however that is already changing with GM introducing their Colorado and Ford potentially introducing the Ranger in 2019 in the quarter ton segment.

Minivan as it is a dying segment anyways and Kia does have a minivan in their portfolio.

As for the electric/hybrid platform they already have the Sonata & Ioniq for sale in the market with Kona electric slated for launch early next year.

At the end of the day all this talk of electric /hybrid rush to me seems to be a bit exaggerated for at least in the North American market & I study this trend closely as we deal with a number of global OEMs (BMW, Ferrari, Nissan, FCA & Hyundai) in this part of the world.

The movement towards hybrid/electric platform will become more rapid and pronounced in Europe and some parts of the continental US however for the large majority of the North American car buying public conventional powertrain priced reasonably still fit the bill where they have to traverse large distances in freezing temperatures for almost 6 months in a year.

Hyundai is fast maturing into a well seasoned and athletic manufacturer and their journey although arduous can be seen in the newer platforms they are bringing into the marketplace. I have looked at their 2019 Santa Fe and was impressed with the amount of technology that they have crammed in that vehicle which unfortunately has resulted in its price becoming uncomfortably close to Toyota Highlander (a segment bestseller). The styling although a clean sheet design was a bit too radical for me (or maybe I’m getting old). It remains to be seen if the SUV buyer in the midsize segment will cross shop it with the other biggies in the segment. Tuscan, Elantra & Sonata are selling fairly well but they also have to contend with stiff competition from Toyota, Honda & Nissan to an extent, therefore, Hyundai cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball.

As for their venture into premium segment with a stand-alone brand Genesis, I remain skeptical as this is a segment that requires decades of legacy, brand heritage and cutting-edge engineering prowess that requires astronomical R&D spend and minimal return in the short to medium term. Nissan has been struggling with Infinity for years and still, its sales numbers in the North American market are nowhere close to the Germans or the sole Japanese success story in the premium segment (Lexus).

I’m sure either their R&D folks are working on hybrid/electric platform or they are in the process of tying up with other automotive majors to license the technology as Hyundai would need a substantial presence in this segment to remain relevant in the future.

If they can continue to get their price/value equation right and pay close attention to their design language, they will continue to remain an important manufacturer in North America for the foreseeable future.

*Data source – goodcarbadcar.net

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by Punatic

"Hyundai ran into problems in China and the United States

Hyundai is a long way from running into problems either in the US or China:

US:

https://www.jdpower.com/cars/ratings...-study-results


China:

https://www.jdpower.com/business/pre...2018-china-iqs

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Vikram Arya

I can’t say about China however in North American market Hyundai is doing fairly well.

Originally Posted by AMG Power

Hyundai is a long way from running into problems either in the US or China:

US:

https://www.jdpower.com/cars/ratings...-study-results

+1 to this - Hyundai, although no-where near the top performers; certainly isn't doing bad in the US. What I noticed across the East coast is Hyundai cars (especially the used market) were always being considered in the final set and folks that didn't choose it finally would do it on two matters - reliability views (vs the Japs) and non-American (for the locals who still focus on it). But is it doing bad? Definitely not!

Originally Posted by Punatic

"Hyundai ran into problems in China and the United States for similar reasons: It missed shifts in consumer tastes, especially the surge in demand for SUVs, and it sought higher prices than its brand image could command" as per this Reuters story.

I think thread headings should clearly mention "Article" or something; the view is of just one Reuters article; which definitely is not the representation of the correct situation on ground @US atleast. Instead the current heading is in a presumptive mode "How Hyundai has already lost the market share", which is wrong.

I would suggest taking the help of mods to rectify this.

[GTO]

In my books, Hyundai is actually doing very well. Be it quality, engines, product competency & even brand - it's only gone from strength to strength.

Hyundai's main problem is that they missed predicting the SUV / Crossover wave. Even in India, there is still no sub-4 meter compact SUV from Hyundai. The company has capability - whatever they've done in hatchbacks & sedans, they need to do with SUVs & Crossovers. Just a matter of time before they catch up.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by GTO

In my books, Hyundai is actually doing very well. Be it quality, engines, product competency & even brand - it's only gone from strength to strength.

Hyundai's main problem is that they missed predicting the SUV / Crossover wave. Even in India, there is still no sub-4 meter compact SUV from Hyundai. The company has capability - whatever they've done in hatchbacks & sedans, they need to do with SUVs & Crossovers. Just a matter of time before they catch up.

Can't agree more on this!

Heck - I've said this several times, but over the last 10-15 years their products have really matured. They look good, are quite reliable, have good interiors, feature loaded, and most importantly - have made huge progress in the suspension department which compliments their already strong line up of engines.

However, they lack exciting SUV options globally, something they seem to be working on as seen with the Tucson FL and I hope they continue with their other MUVs and SUVs because that is where the market is progressing, including in India!

[landcruiser123]

https://www.carscoops.com/2018/11/hy...ng-management/

Exactly what GTO said.
Hyundai hasn’t lost favor with customers, but they have just missed the trend. I’d ignore the complaints from Chinese dealers that Hyundais are expensive.

[Punatic]

Thanks for your replies everyone. As I've said in my original post, conceivably they'll do better here and continue to stay near the top. I'm especially looking forward to the Carlino, where they can (and hopefully will) demonstrate that they can price it right when they need to.

The drop in China & US market shares is pointed out in the article, and is not my own research or speculation. The hope is all mine though!

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Now they have cars that get nice reviews, are competitive with the best, and are priced a bit more upmarket given their intentions and the cars capabilities, but they continue to get dragged down by their existing dealer network which is still stuck in the old days, and looking to sell to the same demographic

Interesting take and I partly agree.. buyers of Santro up until Verna may find the dealership and ownership experience more than satisfactory if not luxurious (as far as the dealerships in Bangalore are concerned) but go a level higher to Elantra or Tucson and one can find the attention to detail, discernment and that special feeling disappear fast.

Hyundai must work on this aspect.. their service stations are tiny and its a nightmare to take in big cars. I hope there is a plan to bring in the Sonata and Kona soon, if so Hyundai must act as an affordable luxury car manufacturer selling mass market cars and not the other way around.