Hyundai-Kia Group Boasts Quality Products Abroad
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group has been showing an impressive sales increase in overseas markets, boosted by its upgraded brand image and recognition in recent years.
Executives ascribe the latest briskness to the group's management strategies in local markets on top to efforts to make quality products and fortify marketing activities.
Hyundai Motor, which exported its ``Excel'' cars to the United States for the first time in 1986, reached a milestone last July ― 5 million units in less than 20 years in cumulative sales.
In recent years, however, the carmaker has struggled to shrug off its ``cheap brand'' image, as it tried to fight prominent global rivals with quality vehicles.
Hyundai Motor made every effort to polish its brand image with not only quality management but marketing and other promotional activities. And such endeavors are now paying off ― not only in America but also in Europe and even emerging markets.
Last month, Hyundai Motor's ``Elantra SE'' and ``Santa Fe'' were selected by ``Consumer Reports,'' a prominent American monthly magazine, to prove enhanced brand image in the U.S.
The automaker has also been rated highly in various other market surveys conducted by noted organizations such as J.D. Power and Associates to match Japanese, German and American rivals.
In an international conference in Seoul late last month, J.D. Power founder James Dave Power said that the ``Genesis'' luxury sedan, which Hyundai Motor released in January, could be the first step toward a second leap forward.
Hyundai Genesis was the company's first foray into the upscale market, dominated by Japanese and German brands such as Toyota Motor's Lexus and BMW AG.
``Hyundai must continue to keep its focus on quality and listen even harder than ever to the voice of customers to understand exactly what the luxury buyer is looking for,'' he said.
Ahead of the official release of the premium sedan in America from the latter half of this year, the company has also been giving priority to publicity and promotion activities, such as sports marketing.
According to noted marketing research firms in the U.S., for example, Hyundai Motor's recent Super Bowl advertisements yielded the highest positive impact on the brand among consumers.
Hyundai Motor garnered a 45-percent increase in net brand improvement for the Genesis and the highest figure of about 30 Super Bowl advertisers, according to comScore's 2008 Super Bowl post-game survey.
Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group is also stepping up its sales and promotion activities in other overseas markets including Europe, China and India.
Last month, Hyundai Motor Beijing posted the sale of a milestone 1 million units in China in five years and two months since its advancement into the country ― the shortest period for foreign carmakers.
In Australia, the company's ``i30'' hatchback was selected as the ``Best Car of the Year'' in 2007; its smaller ``i10'' car swept four awards in India last year.
Kia Motors is also getting good recognition abroad, especially in Europe. Kia's ``Cee'd'' was praised as the ``professional and sexy'' car by France's AutoPlus late last month. German weekly magazine Autobild described the Cee'd as standing comparison with the Volkswagen ``Golf.''
``We are also witnessing a rapid growth in sales in Latin America, which we believe is the result of our global management over the past decade,'' a group spokesman said.