By Park Si-soo
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo called on employees to sharpen competitiveness to overcome major challenges facing the global automotive market.
"There is no other way to overcome risk but making oneself competitive," he told some 60 chief overseas managers of Hyundai Motor and Kim Motors at the group's headquarters in Yangjae, southern Seoul, Monday.
He pointed out three challenges facing his company ― increasing competitiveness, sluggish demand in emerging economies and the appreciation of the Korean won against dollar.
He said the only way to overcome the multiple challenges is producing the "best quality of products," calling on the participants to seek all measures possible for quality control. He also ordered them to educate employees about the importance of quality.
Chung said Hyundai and Kia need to step up efforts to make products, services and marketing strategies that meet fast-changing desires of customers. In addition, he said they should come up with ways to boost their brand power. He said maintaining harmonious relationships with suppliers and dealerships is also crucial.
Hyundai Motor, Korea's biggest carmaker, sold 412,648 cars in June alone, a 1.2 percent increase from a year earlier, helped by demand for both brand new and steady selling cars at home and abroad. For the January-June period, the company sold 2,496,375 cars, up 4.4 percent from the year before, with overseas sales gaining 4.1 percent to 2,149,941 vehicles. Domestic sales were up 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 346,434 units.
The company's biggest affiliate Kia Motors also showed a moderate growth during the first half of the year. Kia's sales reached 1,547,040 units in the January-June period, up 7 percent from the same period of last year.
Hyundai officers said the chairman's remarks indicate that the climate for the car business during the second half of the year is not as friendly as it was during the first six months.
They said the dim prospects is largely to attributable to increased production capacity of major brands, coupled with declining demand in such emerging economies as Russia, Brazil and India where the two Korean carmakers reported poor-than-expected sales so far this year.
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| Chung Mong-koo, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman |
"There is no other way to overcome risk but making oneself competitive," he told some 60 chief overseas managers of Hyundai Motor and Kim Motors at the group's headquarters in Yangjae, southern Seoul, Monday.
He pointed out three challenges facing his company ― increasing competitiveness, sluggish demand in emerging economies and the appreciation of the Korean won against dollar.
He said the only way to overcome the multiple challenges is producing the "best quality of products," calling on the participants to seek all measures possible for quality control. He also ordered them to educate employees about the importance of quality.
Chung said Hyundai and Kia need to step up efforts to make products, services and marketing strategies that meet fast-changing desires of customers. In addition, he said they should come up with ways to boost their brand power. He said maintaining harmonious relationships with suppliers and dealerships is also crucial.
Hyundai Motor, Korea's biggest carmaker, sold 412,648 cars in June alone, a 1.2 percent increase from a year earlier, helped by demand for both brand new and steady selling cars at home and abroad. For the January-June period, the company sold 2,496,375 cars, up 4.4 percent from the year before, with overseas sales gaining 4.1 percent to 2,149,941 vehicles. Domestic sales were up 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 346,434 units.
The company's biggest affiliate Kia Motors also showed a moderate growth during the first half of the year. Kia's sales reached 1,547,040 units in the January-June period, up 7 percent from the same period of last year.
Hyundai officers said the chairman's remarks indicate that the climate for the car business during the second half of the year is not as friendly as it was during the first six months.
They said the dim prospects is largely to attributable to increased production capacity of major brands, coupled with declining demand in such emerging economies as Russia, Brazil and India where the two Korean carmakers reported poor-than-expected sales so far this year.
