Hoping to take Europe with the same force that catapulted it into the big leagues in North America, Hyundai estimated today that it will grow sales in the Old World by more than 15 percent in 2012.
Most automakers anticipate that the European market will continue to remain mostly stagnant, but Hyundai is planning to capture sales from rivals as it has in the United States in Canada.
“Price competition could intensify temporarily in Europe, but ultimately, a restructuring of European carmakers could happen… We believe the difficult situation will offer us an opportunity to expand our market share in Europe,” Lee Won-hee, Hyundai’s CFO, told reporters earlier today.
The Korean automaker projects that it will sell 465,000 Hyundai and Kia-badged cars in Europe this year, which represents a 15.4 percent increase over last year. This month, its redesigned i30, which slots into its European lineup about where the Elantra does in North America, will launch across the continent. Hyundai is putting pressure on the i30 and its larger i40, which is similar to North America’s Sonata, to make up most of the sales increases.
Other automakers are less optimistic about the European market, which is anticipated to shrink by about 5 percent next year for its fifth consecutive year. Hyundai thinks the downsizing will be a bit smaller than most automakers, so but it still estimates that its own sales will be up.
That’s essentially the same path it took in 2009 in North America, when the market shrunk as a whole but Hyundai and Kia rapidly gained share.
Strong Q4
A strong fourth quarter is helping to fuel optimism in South Korea. Hyundai, the first Asian carmaker to report its October to December numbers, posted a $1.8 billion net profit, which is up about about 38 percent from last year.
Positive news during the fourth quarter came from Hyundai’s operations outside of Korea. At home, Hyundai’s sales shrunk about 6 percent, but it grew around 32 percent globally.
Overall, the automaker anticipates a nearly 6 percent boost in global sales next year to 4.29 million.
