September 2013: Hyundai Motor America

[William Maley]

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA REPORTS SEPTEMBER SALES

• Second-best September Ever
• Accent, Elantra, Azera, Genesis & Equus all shine
• Hyundai Santa Fe Advances in North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year Competition

COSTA MESA, Calif., Oct. 1, 2013 – Hyundai Motor America today announced sales for the month of September of 55,102 units, down eight percent versus the same period in 2012, with two fewer selling days. On a selling-day adjusted basis, September sales were up one percent versus last year, representing the second-best September in company history. Fleet sales represented 16 percent of total sales.

“After consistently experiencing year-over-year sales gains in 2013, we definitely felt a market pull-back during the month of September,” said Dave Zuchowski, executive vice president of national sales. “A shorter selling month certainly contributed to this softening but waning consumer confidence influenced by concerns about a potential government shutdown and uncertainty over out-of-pocket health care costs, associated with the launch of the Affordable Care Act, were likely causal factors, as well.”

“We’re getting our inventories back in shape, and that helped us at the top and bottom of our lineup,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. “Elantra had its best-ever September with sales up eight percent, while Accent was up 16 percent for its best September since 2002. Atop our lineup, Azera led the pack with a 67 percent sales increase and best-ever September, while the refreshed 2014 Equus was up 16 and Genesis up 10 percent on improved availability.

“With significantly updated 2014 versions of Tucson, Santa Fe and Sonata arriving in retail stores this week, we’re looking forward to replenishing the remaining holes in our dealer stock and meeting consumer demand for these key models in the strong crossover and mid-size segments.”

Sales of the high-demand Santa Fe, just announced this morning as a contender for the North American Car and Truck/Utility of the Year Competition, have been hampered by tight availability of high-spec Limited and Tech Package models.

Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales are up the first nine months of 2013 with sales of 57,390 versus 51,923, a gain of 10.5 percent.