Hyundai plans return to sales podium – without breaking the bank

A rebuilding Hyundai has set itself the target of returning to the sales rostrum in Australia and perhaps reclaiming bragging rights over its in-house rival Kia along the way.

Sales numbers of around 100,000 per annum have even returned to the agenda, even though carsales has been told the company was nearly “bankrupted” while hitting that goal in the middle of last decade.

Hyundai slumped to fifth in Australia’s new-vehicle sales chart in 2022 after six years at number three behind Toyota and Mazda.

It also dropped behind Kia for the first time since the two brands started competing against each other for passenger vehicle sales here in the 1990s.

Asked specifically if Hyundai Australia would tip the sales scales on its Korean sister brand, COO John Kett said: “I don’t know, I haven’t seen their forecast.

“When you see the scoreboard we just have to accept where we sit,” he added. “So if they beat us they beat us. We don’t like it… we don’t like being fifth and we don’t like being sixth.

“But if we look at our supply chain and the vehicles we do have and the vehicles we have to sell – and every month we don’t really have any inventory available to be two or be three – we have to be comfortable in the fact we are making  progress.”

Longer-term, he described the achievement of 100,000 annual sales as an “ultimate dream”.

“We nearly killed everyone to get there [in 2016],” Kett said. “No-one made any money and no-one can remember us for it, especially consumers because they were all sold to fleets.

“The next time we do that again, let’s make sure we do it in a way the customers feel like they got some value and our network felt like they made some money and we are left with some money in the tank.”

Hyundai sold more than 100,000 vehicles in 2014, 2015 and 2016. In 2022 it registered 73,345 sales as it battled limited supply on key models triggered by pandemic-related fallout.

But Kett made it clear he is confident more production and local supply of key models such as the new Kona compact SUV will help Hyundai’s local recovery in 2023 and beyond.

He listed the Tucson mid-size SUV, the Santa Fe large SUV, the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 EVs and the top-selling i30 hatchback and sedan as models for which supply was looking better.

“It’s incredibly important that we focus on those [i30] vehicles because it is the sub-$35,000 threshold we need to make sure we are getting significant penetration through the business,” he said.

So far in 2023, Hyundai sits slightly behind its 2022 year-on-year total at 29,492 sales. But Kett forecast a second-half improvement.

“We are slightly down year-on-year on a cumulative basis,” he said. “But we are confident we are going to exit the year with year-on-year growth and some gain in share. We are pretty confident in that.”

Bolstering its expectations, Hyundai Australia is in the midst of a product rollout tagged ‘17 in 19’. That means 17 new-generation or significantly updated models in 19 months, starting with the Santa Fe hybrid last November.

The IONIQ 6 and SX2 Kona petrol variants have since been added. Also to come in 2023 are the Kona Hybrid, Kona Electric, i30 sedan Hybrid, i30 sedan and i30 N sedan facelifts, the Mighty electric delivery truck and Sonata N Line sedan facelift.

Confirmed for local release in 2024 are the high-performance IONIQ 5 N, the Tucson Hybrid (as well as orthodox model updates) and IONIQ 7 electric SUV. The rest of the 17 have not been confirmed.

Beyond that will come a new-generation Santa Fe, an entry-level EV to fight the Chinese “challenger brands” and a new generation of EV products including – potentially – an electric ute.

But even without that last key ingredient, Kett was confident about what Hyundai could achieve.

“Ignoring us having a ute today, we believe we can be number three in the market without a ute.

“When you look at the portfolio we have announced and when you see the portfolio of electrification and hybrids we have announced and given you insights into, you can’t help but look forward and think the work we have done over the last three or four years has positioned us incredibly strongly for the next five years.

“But the proof will be in us constantly launching new vehicles, constantly authenticating our commitment to this generational push in terms of zero-emissions and how we are going to get there.”

For the Australian market overall, Kett forecast a total as high 1.05 million – the 2022 result was 1.081m – as supply improved across the industry.

While there was evidence of demand sliding, Kett predicted fleets would re-enter the market in 2023. He also expected the filling of orders to support sales numbers.

He also noted the return of discounting as some brands built up a supply of cars and private orders dipped in the face of economic pressures.

“More cars are being stored at… compounds and we can also see a little bit of end-of-year discounting that is beyond just the instant tax write-off,” he said. “There are some excess cars in the marketplace.”

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