Kia Motors, together with its affiliate Hyundai, has overtaken Ford to become the fourth largest car
maker in the world.
Previously sitting in fifth place, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group moved into fourth position based
on global vehicle sales for the first six months of the year, according to figures just published by the
Automotive News Data Centre in the United States. Toyota, GM and VW occupy the top three places.
Collectively, Kia and Hyundai sold 2.153million vehicles in the first half of 2009, overtaking Ford on
2.145million. This time last year they were trailing Ford by more than a million vehicles and just ten
years ago, when the two Korean companies formed their alliance, they were in 11th place. The pair
reached sixth place in 2006 and rose to fifth a year later.
Now industry commentators are predicting that Kia and Hyundai will not only hold on to the fourth
place ranking, but increase the margin over Ford, as their sales have fallen much less than any other
major vehicle manufacturer as a result of the global recession. In recent months they have actually
posted gains, with Kia seeing record July sales in China (up 101%), its home market in Korea (up 26.5%)
and the US (up 7.8%) , on the way to posting an overall worldwide increase of 17.5%.
And as the rest of the automotive world struggles financially, Kia Motors has also just reported a 627%
improvement in profit for the second quarter of 2009, rising from 61 billion Korean Won in 2008 to 444
billion Korean Won compared to the same period a year ago – its best financial result since 2003.
A spokesperson for Kia and Hyundai says that “as a result of producing the right product for the right
times, the group has managed to take fourth place much quicker than had been predicted.”
It’s a strategy that has also paid off in New Zealand, too, according to Todd McDonald, General
Manager of Kia Motors NZ, which has seen its local market share rise to more than 4%, from just under
3%, during the first six months of 2009.
“For example, Kia was among the first to introduce efficient and high performance diesel engines to
small passengers cars, to complement our economical petrol models, at a time when New Zealand
motorists have been looking for improved fuel efficiency,” says Mr McDonald.
“And we’ve continued to roll out newer, design-led products even as the market has taken a hit from
the economic downturn.
“That’s what you expect of a company that aspires to be among the top vehicle manufacturers in the
world and it is great news that we have now taken fourth place.”
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.