Hyundai could topple Mazda this year

Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) expects to exceed 100,000 annual vehicle sales for the first time in 2014.

Speaking at a preview drive of the new Genesis in South Korea this week, HMCA CEO John Elsworth told motoring.com.au the importer is well placed to crack the six-figure threshold for the first time, placing it within reach of Japanese rival, Mazda.

Mazda expects to sell more than 100,000 vehicles for the third time this year and both brands are rapidly narrowing the gap to Holden, which continues to hold down second place behind Toyota.

“We have targets, and we hit out targets,” declared Elsworth. “For the last 24 months we’ve grown on the year before, every month, and we plan to do that for the rest of the year.

"We adjust our business on-the-run [so as] not to miss targets. It’s a very flexible business and we’re pretty dynamic in how we make decisions -- and quick. We plan to keep growing. It’s consistent growth that we can mange,” he added.

Pushed for a figure, Elsworth said he was confident HMCA, which has traditionally been loath to reveal its sales targets, would push ahead of its 2013 result.

“This year, it would be in excess of 100,000 cars, and that’s the first time in the company’s history [sales have exceeded six figures],” he said.

“The first time you do over 100,000 in the auto industry is almost like you’ve grown-up as a company, matured, and I think it’ll be a real turning point for our business.”

The milestone will push Hyundai closer to, or even ahead of, strong-selling Mazda, which finished 2013 with 103,144 sales, placing it third behind Holden (112,059) and Toyota (214,630). Hyundai tailed Mazda in fourth place with 97,006 registrations last year.

But Elsworth said Hyundai was focussed on its own sales targets, rather than out-selling Mazda.

“We trying to install a lot of disciplined processes in our business… and that should let us leapfrog to the next level," he said.

"We don’t really have any plans to chase Mazda… we have our goals and our targets, and if that means at one point we jump them, well, so be it."

Elsworth predicts the Australian new-vehicle market will exceed 1.1 million units this year, continuing its record volume, but says that could depend on the end-of-financial-year sales held throughout June.

To the end of May, Hyundai reflected its end of 2013 fourth-place position with 39,589 units, positioning it behind Mazda (42,536), Holden (44,441) and Toyota (80,297).

If Hyundai sells more than 100,000 vehicles this year, it will have grown sales by about 3.5 per cent in 2014, in a market that is currently down almost three per cent.

Hyundai expects to notch up another sales record in June, which would be its 25th in a row, and will release three new and four facelifted models in the next 12 months.

June sales figures will be released next week.