Hyundai On Track To Sell 760K In US For 2015 Despite Low CUV, SUV Sales Volume

by Cameron Aubernon

Published: May 27th, 2015

hyundai on track to sell 760k in us for 2015 despite low cuv suv sales volume

Hyundai says it’s on target to sell 760,000 units in the United States by the end of 2015, though crossover and SUV sales are lacking for now.

Hyundai’s overall USDM sales through April were up 6.2 percent compared to last year, with 240,038 units leaving the lot, Ward’s Auto reports. The figure bests the automaker’s projected 5 percent increase for 2015 thus far.

However, Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski says most of the success comes from car sales, whereas crossover and SUV sales need improving. Though the vehicles made up 21 percent of the automaker’s 68,009 units sold in April alone, the overall U.S. crossover/truck/SUV market made up 55.3 percent of the 1.45 million new vehicles sold during the period:

We’re up 6 percent in cars in a segment that’s down a little bit, (but) we’re up 6 percent in trucks in a segment that’s up almost 11 percent. With us (having) limited capacity of trucks and the truck market representing 56 percent of everything that’s sold, we can hit our number and still potentially lose share just because of the influence of the truck market.

The automaker aims to remedy the issue by introducing a B-segment crossover and the production-ready version of the Santa Cruz crossover pickup, along with boosting inventories of the Tucson, thanks to the upcoming arrival of the 2016 model from South Korea. At least 65,000 Tucsons are set to arrive this year, with 90,000 to be shipped in 2016 due to Hyundai adding 50,000 more of the crossover to the assembly line in Ulsan. More Tucsons could be brought over in 2015, however, if the automaker’s negotiations with the unions fall in the former’s favor.

Hyundai’s share of the U.S. market gained a tenth of a percentage for the first four months of the year, climbing to 4.5 percent compared to 2014.

[Source: Hyundai]

#BSegment #DaveZuchowski #Hyundai #HyundaiMotorAmerica #LightTruckSales #SantaCruz #SubcompactCrossovers #Tucson #U.S.New-carSales #UnitedStatesDomesticMarket #USDM

Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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65corvair on May 27, 2015

My wife bought a new CRV about 8 weeks ago. We just got back from a 4100 mile trip to Yellowstone. What a great car. Continues to impress. I don't care how cheap a Hyundia is or the equipment it has, I'll pay the extra for the Honda.

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- Izzy on May 27, 2015
  
  Interesting. We have a 2000 Honda civic and 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe. Was first reluctant to get a Hyundai but the price was right. After 8 years of ownership, I am a complete convert. I would buy a Hyundai again. Now it is time for us to replace the Honda and my wife is pretty much set on getting the CRV. I thought about asking her to test drive a CX-5 to see how it compares. But I think we will just buy the CRV. I am sure she will be completely happy with it. My point is that, true or not Hyundai is perceived as inferior to Japanese brands. And that is hard to overcome.
  
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- Smowe on May 28, 2015
  
  @izzy Hyundai and Kia are inferior to Honda and Toyota if you fetishize reliability like I do. If you didn't, I don't know why you'd even look at any of those brands because if you care about looks or performance, there are other more compelling options, especially with the luxury marques moving downmarket.
  
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- Bd2 on May 28, 2015
  
  @smowe Toyota has been more reliable b/c they haven't changed powertrains in ages (still have their issues); Honda and Acura have been having more issues lately as they have been introducing new powertrains.
  
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Ccode81 on May 28, 2015

Japanese yen hit 13 year low rate against USD yesterday, while KOrean WOn is sitting stable at the range. Furthermore, US treasury recently warned for their currency market manupilation, could head to the more unfavorable direction. I wonder how long they can offer cars considerably cheaper than Japanese marques. Also the FTA forced to open their closed domestic market where H/K enjoyed high margin. It has been reported their combined domestic share went under 70% for the first time. Losing the cash cow, the R&D would become more cost chalenging. Next few years are interesting to see how they can over come the situation.

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