May 2013 - Hyundai Motor America

[William Maley]

HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA SETS ALL-TIME MAY SALES RECORD WITH FASTEST DAILY-SELLING RATE EVER, SECOND BEST SALES MONTH EVER

• Hot-selling Sonata tops 20,000 sales, Elantra tops 25,000 for an all-time record sales total for the Alabama-built duo


• Sales velocity high as inventories remain tight


• Assurance Connected Care connecting with customers

COSTA MESA, Calif., June 3, 2013 – Hyundai Motor America today announced sales of 68,358 units, up two percent versus the same period in 2012 and up about eight percent over a very strong April. It was the company’s second-best sales month of all-time, second only to March 2012, and the fastest daily-selling rate ever.

“May was a high-velocity sales month for us, with the post-Memorial Day frenzy leaving us well positioned for the summer selling season. An across-the-board strengthening of key economic indicators and our strong Assurance Connected Care message drove prospective customers to our showrooms in droves to check out the strongest lineup of cars and CUVs in our history,” said Dave Zuchowski, executive vice president of national sales. “Our core products – Elantra, Sonata and Santa Fe – all performed exceptionally well. We’re selling each of these three U.S-built products as fast as we can build them.”

Elantra sales at 25,090 units were up 33 percent over last May and up 30 percent year-to-date, representing the shift in U.S. production mix to meet surging Elantra demand. Sonata sales remain strong, with demand constrained only by production mix in Alabama. Both Elantra and Sonata are selling at sales velocities significantly higher than their competitors, with incentive levels and fleet mixes significantly lower than competitors. The all-new Santa Fe continues its capacity-constrained torrid selling rate, exceeding the 7,000 unit mark, up 21 percent on a year-to-date basis and in short supply across the country. Demand for the Equus, the industry’s highest customer satisfaction model (according to J.D. Power’s 2013 Customer Satisfaction Index) and Genesis models remains exceptionally strong, with inventory levels low as changeover to 2014 models is underway. This had a significant impact on Genesis and Equus sales in May.

“Our plants continue to work at maximum capacity to meet record demand levels across our lineup,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. “Elantra and Sonata remain extremely hot sellers for us, with that duo exceeding 45,000 combined sales for the first time ever. Our new complimentary Assurance Connected Care telematics program is clearly resonating with customers, with record website traffic and signup activity for all of our telematics services. And our premium customers have a lot to look forward to as the updated 2014 Equus will be arriving in dealerships later this month, joining the high-performance Genesis for a strong one-two punch at the top of our lineup.”

In mid-May, Hyundai announced Assurance Connected Care, an innovative suite of consumer-focused programs featuring unsurpassed connected-car solutions and enabling remote car control features. Three years of Assurance Connected Care are now standard on all Blue Link-equipped vehicles.

Fleet mix registered about 18 percent for the month, among the lowest in the industry. Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales were 6,696 a May record, up 17 percent over May 2012. Hyundai continues to have one of the lowest fleet mixes and lowest incentive spending levels in the industry. These two factors, along with strong CPO sales, have driven Hyundai residual values to be among the very best in the industry according to ALG.