Hyundai Motor Begins Comparative Advertising Campaign

The emergence of the new Hyundai Sonata`s 2.4-liter engine is pummeling foreign cars one by one.

Against the backdrop of Sonatas crisscrossing the roads like occupying soldiers, a TV commercial says, “No car can be confident in front of Sonata’s performance.” The commercial for the new Sonata F24 GDi began airing Tuesday.

Sensitive TV viewers will notice that one of the disappearing cars is similar to the Toyota Camry. Though Hyundai Motor did not name the model of the car, it agreed that the car resembles the Camry. Hyundai Motor is sending a message to consumers that its new Sonata outperforms the Camry.

As the Camry’s popularity is growing in the domestic import car market with 1,195 sold over the past three months, domestic carmakers are on high alert. Hyundai, which occupies more than 80 percent of the domestic car market, is raising its guard because the Camry is eating away at its consumer base for the luxury sedan Grandeur and Sonata.

In addition to TV commericals, Hyundai Motor will hold a promotional event for journalists to give them the opportunity to drive the new model and compare it with the Camry.

Prior to this, Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-seon spoke of the aggressive efforts of Japanese carmakers to occupy the Korean car market at a promotional event on Jeju Island last week, “Japanese carmakers such as Toyota, which entered the Korean market last year, will step up efforts to gain greater access to the market.”

A source at Subaru Motors of Japan, which has officially announced its entry into the Korean market, said, “Our flagship product is the midsize sedan Legacy and the Toyota Camry is our major competitor,” adding, “The competitor of our sport-utility vehicle Forester is Toyota’s RAV4.”

Due to the Camry`s popularity, Nissan cut the price of its midsize sedan Altima around three million won (2,617 U.S. dollars) and will begin TV commercials in Korea this month. Honda, which has had hard time due to an unfavorable exchange rate, is reportedly considering marketing the Insight in Korea to stem the tide of the Camry.

sukim@donga.com