Hyundai leads Asian car sales as Japanese automakers struggle to recover inventories 10/07/2011
Kelley Blue Book recently released its monthly market report for October 2011, which reveals that Japanese brands are still struggling, but domestic brands and Hyundai are thriving. Car companies such as Toyota and Honda are still working to replenish their American inventories after March's earthquakes shut down production for a brief period in the spring. The KBB report indicates that inventories were up in September from August's numbers, but the overall Japanese market is four points behind where it was at this time last year.
While they are racing to ship more vehicles over to their U.S. inventories, Hyundai has stepped in as the leading Asian car company in American sales. While Japanese automakers saw a 7.8 percent decline in sales over last year, Hyundai was right behind American car companies with improvement, trailing just 1 percent behind their 4.3 percent overall improvements since 2010.
"Incredibly, Hyundai has been able to increase share while combating inventory shortages of its own," said Alec Gutierrez, the manager of vehicle valuation for KBB. "While not severely impacted by the earthquake, Hyundai is in the enviable position of demand outstripping supply due to the highly-acclaimed redesigns they have churned out during the past two years. The all-new Elantra, Sonata, Optima, Sportage, Genesis and Tucson are but a few of the top-notch redesigns benefiting the brand in today's competitive environment."
The Hyundai Elantra, which is one of the Korean automaker's best-selling vehicles, is fuel-efficient and inexpensive. The compact sedan gets 40 miles per gallon and costs between $17,200 and $20,200, according to Motor Trend. The latest model is both longer and lighter than the previous model, which makes it more economical and spacious.