Hyundai has become the first South Korean brand to top 80,000 sales in a calendar year in the UK, selling 82,159 in 2014 and is looking to raise its numbers even further this year in what is expected to be a flat market.
Hyundai UK president and chief officer Tony Whitehorn said he was hoping to achieve 88,000 sales in 2015, pushing on to 100,000 and a top five place in Britain by the end of the decade.
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To achieve this, he added, the brand would be increasing its dealer count over the next year by five to 165, as well as introducing new and refreshed models. He also said it was important the company did not rely on one particular product.
He said: “The market can change with economic conditions and consumer confidence so it’s vital that we have a balanced range.” To this end, he has what he calls a “20 20 20 20 20” vision.
“That means 20% of our sales should be A segment cars, 20% B segment, 20% C segment, 20% SUVs and 20% others,” he added. Those others would include commercial vehicles, the upscale Genesis luxury sedan being introduced into the UK later this year and, possibly, fuel cell vehicles.
“The UK market is only expected to increase by 0.6% this year. While there are good indicators in that GDP is expected to grow by 2.6%, unemployment is at 5.5% and inflation 1.1%, there are also a couple uncertainties with government elections in May and analysts telling me consumer confidence is waning a little.
“It’s important, then, that we have a constant stream of new models so that dealers have a reason to call customers up.”
Among Hyundai’s new products this year are the i20 and i20 Coupe, i40 and the Genesis. Whitehorn added he is also looking at how well the brand’s new commercial vehicle performs in terms of sales in mainland Europe with a view to launching the vehicle in the UK.
