- Sales to private and corporate customers ahead of industry growth
- Europe-focused models proving most popular with car-buyers
- European plants on track to deliver 500,000 units in 2014
Offenbach, 17 July 2014
Hyundai Motor has posted positive gains in Europe during 2014, with the company’s European-made cars proving most popular with consumers.
In Europe’s top five markets by volume[1], Hyundai increased sales to private customers and corporate fleets during the first five months of the year by 13.1% and 17.8% respectively – ahead of industry growth in both sectors.
Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, commented: “Hyundai Motor is growing sales in the right areas, rather than pursuing market share gains at any cost. Our European manufacturing plants continue to play an important role in our success.”
Hyundai’s two European plants in the Czech Republic and Turkey have the capability to build 500.000 units per annum, mostly for Europe. Both facilities are on track to deliver maximum capacity in 2014, thanks to local and global demand for the Europe-focused cars.
In the Czech Republic, Hyundai built 159.529 units in the first half of 2014, an increase of 2.6% over 2013. The number of Czech-built Hyundai cars sold within the European Union (EU) grew by 5% year-on-year, with nearly 70% of all cars built at the Nošovice plant sold across the 28 member states. The compact-SUV ix35, one of three models built at the plant, sold 46,610 units, a 6% increase over 2013. A further 40,800 examples of the car were sold to customers outside the EU.
Hyundai’s manufacturing facility in İzmit, Turkey, produced over 100.000 vehicles in the first half of 2014, of which 50% were New Generation i10. The new A-segment challenger, which started production at the beginning of 2014, sold 42,344 units between January and June, a 42% increase over sales of the outgoing model during the same period last year. The plant, which also builds the B-segment i20 for Europe, celebrated producing one million units earlier this week.
Allan Rushforth added: “European demand for our European-built cars has gone up this year, which is very encouraging. At the same time, global demand for these models allows us to focus on growing our European business organically without the need to stimulate growth artificially.
“We expect to re-balance our market share as we introduce new models to Europe from the end of 2014 onwards,” Rushforth concluded.
With registrations of 219,617 cars, Hyundai took a 3.2% share of the European new car market during the first half of 2014, according to figures released today by European automotive industry body ACEA.
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About Hyundai Motor
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond. The company, which leads the Hyundai Motor Group, an innovative business structure capable of circulating resources from molten iron to finished cars, offers top-quality best-sellers such as Elantra, Sonata and Genesis. Hyundai Motor has seven manufacturing bases and seven design & technical centers outside of South Korea and in 2013, sold 4.73 million vehicles globally. With almost 100,000 employees worldwide, Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with localised models and strives to strengthen its leadership in clean technology, starting with the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered vehicle, ix35 Fuel Cell.
About Hyundai Motor Europe
In 2013, Hyundai Motor Europe achieved registrations of 422.930 units, taking a new-car market share of 3,4%. Almost 95% of the vehicles Hyundai sells in the region are designed, engineered and tested in Europe to meet the needs of European customers. And 90% are built at its two local factories in the Czech Republic and Turkey, which have a combined annual capacity of 500.000 units. Hyundai sells cars in 30 European countries across 2.500 outlets.
Hyundai offers its unique, Europe-only, Five Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty package with all new cars sold in the region, providing customers with a five-year warranty with no mileage limit, five years of roadside assistance and five years of vehicle health checks.
About Hyundai Motor UK
Hyundai has sold vehicles in the UK since 1982. In 2005, Hyundai opened its own UK subsidiary, Hyundai Motor UK Ltd, based in High Wycombe. Since 2008, the company has risen from 21st to one of the top ten car manufacturers in the UK and last year sold a record 77,500 vehicles. Hyundai Motor UK employs over 3000 people through its UK operations and dealer network.
Hyundai offers a full range of vehicles from the award-winning New Generation i10 city car through to the capable Santa Fe SUV and iLoad LCV. All passenger cars come with Hyundai’s industry-leading 5 Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty package.