How Hyundai Motor, once a rising star, lost its shine

[balthazar]

SEOUL/DETROIT/CHONGQING, China (Reuters) - At a near-empty Hyundai Motor showroom in the Chinese mega city of Chongqing, the store manager is grumbling about his shortage of customers and a lack of bigger, cheaper SUV models popular in the world's largest auto market.

Even with discounting of as much as 25 percent, his dealership was selling barely a hundred vehicles a month, said the manager surnamed Li. A nearby Nissan dealership was selling about 400 vehicles a month, a store manager there said.

"The sales are simply poor," Li told Reuters. "Look at the Nissan store next door, they have tens of customers while we just have two."

An hour's drive away is Hyundai's massive $1 billion manufacturing plant, which opened last year with a target to produce 300,000 vehicles per year.

But with sales weak and the Chinese auto market slowing sharply, the factory is running at roughly 30 percent of capacity, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/insight-hyundai-motor-once-rising-star-lost-shine-042534355--finance.html

[A Horse With No Name]

I like the looks of the Stinger GT but the rest of the lineup needs serious help in a multitude of ways.

[balthazar]

Stinger, of course, is a kia. This is speaking to hyundai's misfortunes.

[G. David Felt]

Hyundai has seriously mis-stepped for the global markets that have changed and want a different lineup than what they offer. It will be interesting to see how fast they can turn things around.

[Suaviloquent]

Hyundai’s best attribute is still features and bang for the buck. But as vehicles are now really about image and appliance like virtues, hell yes having a shortage of generic, me-too crossovers is bad.

[trinacriabob]

I think they do better with their econoboxes.  I think the base Accent is a good little car with a lot of bang for the buck.  (I'm repeating myself ... I know.)

I am starting to see the 2020 Sonatas on the streets.  I can't say I like them.  Spy shots and early press release photos showed a nicer grille and a nicer, more rounded silhouette and greenhouse.  However, the rear quarter view and the rear treatment of the new Sonata do not look good in real life.  I can't pinpoint what may have inspired their rear end styling, but it's derivative.  

Pass.

[ocnblu]

2.0L Kona is nice.  The Venue is a good replacement for the Accent hatchback.  The Tucson is nice, and the Veloster, in base form, is very affordable.  The Santa Fe looks good this time around, and the Palisade is selling well.  The Elantra GT hatch is practical and sporty.

[balthazar]

^ Great big corral of meh.

[trinacriabob]

The new Elantra is just around the bend and it stylistically follows in the footsteps of the new Sonata.  That's a thumbs down.  It looks like they're trying to reinvent their design vocabulary and niche.  The exterior views are consistent but the interior views are not.  I've seen two renditions of their interiors and dashboards.  One is better than the other.

I see the Accent going away.  Too bad.  The Accent is being discontinued for the Canadian market.  I'm not sure if we (the U.S.A.) are included in this.  There are very few of them on the lots, while Elantras, the current one, are plentiful.  I surprisingly enjoyed how nicely two rentals drove and sipped fuel.  The only heartburn I have is that it went from a 6-speed automatic to a CVT.  Yep, CVTs and "laptop left open" infotainment centers give me heartburn.

Edited August 13, 2020 by trinacriabob