The U.S. finished vehicle market has severely suffered from the ramifications of COVID-19, but has been continuing to show signs of recovery since September. Particularly, Hyundai Motor Group has posted strong growth in both local sales and margin.
According to U.S. market survey company ALG on Tuesday (local time), Hyundai and Kia vehicles are expected to sell 100,666 units in the U.S. retail market for new models. This is 12.1% higher than 89,795 from the same period last year and significantly exceeds the overall growth rate of 4% at 13 major finished vehicle brands. The U.S. retail market for finished vehicles has shown signs of growth since September. Sales volume for the first eight months of this year, which divides monthly retail sales performance by business days, is lower than last year, but in September the growth rate jumped to 8% and an additional 0.3% this month.
Particularly noticeable is Kia Motors’ performance growth in the U.S. market. For this month, Kia’s sales volume grew 16.7% from the same period last year, which is the second highest among 13 brands surveyed trailing behind only Tesla (36.1%). Hyundai Motor Group’s sales growth also exceeded that of major competitors including GM, Toyota and Volkswagen.
Bolstered by growth in the U.S. new car market, strong growth for Hyundai Motor Group is expected to continue in the fourth quarter. “Overall recovery of the automobile market is expected to drive performance similar to last year,” announced Kia Motors in its Q3 earnings release.
Hyung-Seok Seo skytree08@donga.com