Despite a dismal year resulting in a 23.9 percent decline in sales industry-wide for the U.S. market, Hyundai and Kia are reporting an annual growth in sales and market share. Hyundai Motor Company’s success in 2009 makes them the only major automaker to sell more cars in 2009 than 2008.
Hyundai is currently reporting a 4.3 percent market share in the U.S., an increase of 38 percent from only a 3.1 percent share through November 2008.
“In 2009, we learned to never let a crisis go to waste,” said John Krafcik, Hyundai U.S. president, paraphrasing White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
What Krafcik was likely referring to was Hyundai’s Assurance Program, launched in the middle of serious economic uncertainty in the U.S. The Assurance Program guaranteed buyers that if they lost their source of income after buying a Hyundai that the automaker would buy the car back with no ding to their credit. This risky program helped not only to move some cars at the time, but proved to gain a fair amount of media attention and generate healthy brand exposure for Hyundai’s new and improved product offerings.
An IHS Global Insight analyst, Aaron Bragman, told Automotive News, “Hyundai was selling peace of mind during an uncertain time.”
“Hyundai has a lot of momentum going for it right now, ” Bragman said.
Hyundai has recently expanded its lineup to include more upscale vehicles, such as the critically acclaimed Hyundai Genesis sedan and its smaller, more sport-oriented Genesis coupe variant. Until recently Hyundai was known as the brand that heavily borrowed designs from other automakers and produced inexpensive and lower quality vehicles, said Krafcik.
Hyundai announced that it intends to expand the Assurance Program in the coming months, with less than 100 vehicles being bought back by Hyundai so far.
In addition to major automaker Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia brand posting market share increases, it is worth mentioning that Subaru has posted record sales several months this year – including its best ever November sales with a 24 percent year-over-year increase. Subaru is expected is to post an all-time sales record for 2009, with market share consistently above 2 percent this year.
