Sedans and Missiles: Hyundai Slams Into Another Sales Roadblock

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

The frustration never seems to end for Hyundai executives. After last year’s Korean labor strife and political scandal, the brand now faces flagging fortunes in the all-important North American market, all thanks to a car-heavy lineup that once guaranteed piles of profit.

Now, the automaker faces the same problem in another global growth engine — China. While that market has also discovered its love for crossovers and SUVs, there’s another problem that Hyundai can’t turn around by rushing a new vehicle to production. Hyundai, it seems, can’t do a damn thing about high-altitude defensive missiles.

Already battered by the Chinese crossover craze — which has seen competitors like General Motors clean up — Hyundai has become a victim of geopolitics.

Anti-Korean sentiment is nothing new to China, but the growing distrust and boycotting of South Korean products — a practice tacitly encouraged by the country’s Communist government — has hit a new high. In response to the nuclear ambitions of North Korea, a key Chinese ally, the South is literally on the defensive. Recently, news emerged that South Korea plans to deploy a U.S.-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile battery.

With the first pieces of the missile shield now in place, the system should be fully operational by the end of the year. China isn’t pleased.

According to Bloomberg, Hyundai showrooms in the largest Chinese cities are ghost towns. A manager in a Shanghai dealership told the news agency that weekends will go by without a single person entering the showroom, and that half of his sales staff have already quit.

Reuters reports Hyundai and Kia sales fell a staggering 52 percent in March, year-over-year, as the boycott ramped up. Market share has shrunk to just 3.5 percent. As the automaker counts on China for about a quarter of its overseas sales, the THAAD battery keeping its Seoul headquarters safe from nuclear annihilation won’t save it from that incoming blow. Still, the company persists.

Hyundai plans to offer seven new China-only vehicles, including a gas-powered and electric SUV, to lure Chinese buyers into showrooms. Doing its part, Kia also has a China-only SUV the way.

Beijing Hyundai Motor Company executive Chang Won-shin holds out hopes that anti-Korean sentiment will blow over, telling Bloomberg he expects the business climate to “get better soon.” The company is expected to drop its first-quarter financial report later today, with Kia’s results coming tomorrow.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
  • Dukeisduke I've been waiting to see if they were going to do something special for the 60th Anniversary. I was four years old when the Mustang was introduced. I can remember that one of our neighbors bought a '65 coupe (they were all titled as '65 models, even the '64-1/2 cars), and it's the first one I can remember seeing. In the '90s I knew an older gentleman that owned a '64-1/2 model coupe with the 260 V8.
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