Hyundai Casts Aside Conquest For Quality in Europe

TTAC Staff
by TTAC Staff

Though Hyundai has set its sights on some sales gains in 2014 in the European market, the automaker has no plans to defend market share to the death, opting for repeat business rather than taking the Germanic approach of volume at all costs.

Hyundai’s European COO Allan Rushforth told Automotive News that the automaker is shifting from being a conquest brand to a loyalty brand, offering financing options for their European customers as one incentive in returning. Rushforth noted that Hyundai’s approach is on the cautious side, due mainly to the current competitive environment maintaining its stranglehold on the market for the foreseeable future.

In the meantime, Hyundai aims to offer 22 new or updated models to the European auto market by 2017, such as new versions of the i10 minicar and Genesis sedan, with the goal of boosting their market and mind share to 5 percent. They also plan to build 90 percent of their European lineup in factories all over the continent by then, with 70 percent of the lineup’s components to be derived from local sources.

TTAC Staff
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  • Arun Arun on Dec 12, 2013

    I agree. The title needs a revision

  • Volt 230 Volt 230 on Dec 12, 2013

    Maybe the tittle is correct and they just want to be like most European brands in the quality dept.

  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on Dec 12, 2013

    Agreed with the others on the headline - it's very misleading. As for Hyundai - good for them. Too many mfrs don't do what it takes to retain customers.

  • Carrera Carrera on Dec 13, 2013

    Both Hyundai and Kia have been kicking butt, in Eastern Europe at least, for the past 5-6 years. It took them a little while because most East Europeans have their prejudices against Asian cars but once they got a taste of the better quality, ( in most cases compared to their European counterparts) there was no turning back. My father-in-law was eyeing a Hyundai Accent for a long time against comparable VWs and Opels and it took a lot of guts for him to finally buy a brand new diesel 1.5l diesel Accent. Five years later, he is very happy with the car itself. Never had a problem with it and the icing on the cake is that it gets 60 mpg with the AC on. He was not too happy with the dealer prices for servicing his car ( warranty claims can be denied if the car was not exclusively seriviced at authorized dealers). I remember going to the the local dealer with him to help him buy it. There was a huge discrepancy in price if the vehicle was made outside the EU ( Korea in Hyundai's case). The Santa Fe which was made in Korea was about 45,000 Euros which I thought was an insane price, but that's because, at that time, they had an extra 30% added to the price ( non EU vehicle). The previous generation Sonata came from Korea as well and it was about 37,000 Euros. All of them were 4 cyl diesel models. I don't think gas was even an option in 2008 for those cars. Of course, the Korean made models did not sell at all because at that price they were competing with entry level BMWs and other luxury entry level European vehicles. The European made Hyundai and Kias were, and I believe still are, very hot sellers. Most Kias were made in Slovakia and a lot of the Hyundais were made in Turkey. They are/were priced at a very reasonable level compared to VW, Fords, Opels, Renaults etc. Their only price competition comes from Dacia Logan/Sorento/Duster but Hyundai and Kia are way above those models in most respects.

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