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 Hyundai and its affiliate Kia, together ranked fifth in global car
sales, aim to boost global sales by 4 percent this year to a
combined 7.86 million vehicles, the pair said in regulatory filings
on Thursday. Growth will come from revamped versions of key models
and increased production capacity in China.
The forecast increase is the lowest since 2003's 2.3 percent and is
bleak by comparison with breakneck growth at one of the auto
industry's biggest success stories during the global economic
downturn at the end of the last decade.
It's a fresh challenge for Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-koo as the
company shakes up United States management amid a fall in market
share there, while German rivals encroach on its once-impregnable
domestic stronghold. "Competition among companies is intensifying,
as the global economy has entered an era of low growth," Chung said
in a New Year message to employees.
The 2014 sales target would be in line with the global auto market's
projected sales growth of 4 percent. At their growth peak in 2010,
Hyundai and Kia's annual sales climbed 24 percent as the weaker
Korean won allowed them to offer stylish, feature-loaded new cars at
affordable prices.
That price advantage has been waning. The won appreciated by more
than 22 percent against the yen in 2013. The Japanese currency also
weakened versus the dollar, making exports from Japanese car makers
like Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T>, Honda Motor Co <7267.T> and Nissan
Motor Co <7201.T> more affordable by comparison.
EXPORTER CONCERNS
The yen's fall has been stoked by Japan's attempts to support its
export industries and pull its economy out of a two-decade slump.
Senior officials in South Korea and China earlier this week
expressed concerns that their own exporters could be hurt as a
result.
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In regulatory filings on Thursday Hyundai said it was targeting
sales of 4.9 million vehicles this year, while Kia's goal is to
reach 2.96 million.
For 2013, the pair said they saw sales rise 6 percent to 7.56
million vehicles combined as growth in China and Brazil offset a
lackluster showing at home. In South Korea, auto makers like
Germany's Volkswagen AG <VOWG_p.DE> have been boosted by a free
trade pact between the European Union and South Korea.
The 2013 showing was better than the original Hyundai-Kia target of
7.41 million. But at 6 percent, the growth rate was below the
previous year's 8 percent rise and already in its third straight
year of decline.
Hyundai shares, which enjoyed strong gains in recent years, were the
worst performers among major automakers in 2013. The company's stock
advanced 8 percent last year, compared with Toyota's 60 percent
surge, and a 41 percent jump at General Motors Co <GM.N>.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; editing by
Kenneth Maxwell)
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