hankyoreh

By Park Seung-heon, staff reporter

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors’ combined global market share surpassed 9% in the second quarter of 2014. After slumping for the past three quarters, market share has resumed upward momentum, the first time since the third quarter of last year (9.0%). This is raising the possibility that the two companies could achieve 9% market share for the year.

Hyundai and Kia announced on Aug. 4 that they had total global sales of 2,004,000 cars during the second quarter of the year. Given American market research company LMC’s estimate that 21.99 million cars were sold around the world during the period, Hyundai and Kia are estimated to have a 9.1% market share.

This is the second highest global market share posted by Hyundai and Kia after the 9.4% share recorded in the four quarter of 2012. After recording 9.0% market share in the second and third quarters of 2013, the two companies’ market share fell to 8.5% in the fourth quarter. It slipped a further 0.2 percentage points to 8.3% in the first quarter of 2014.

Industry analysts believe that the “new car effect” - following the launch of the Sonata LF and the Genesis - is largely responsible for the increase in market share. Even as Japanese brands took advantage of the weak yen to slash prices and offer incentives, Hyundai and Kia used the launch of new models to increase their share in the American and European markets, while sales grew in emerging markets. These were the factors boosting the companies’ market share, analysts explain.

The strong performance in the second quarter is also prompting observers to wonder whether Hyundai and Kia can post a 9% share in the global market for the year for the first time in history. The two companies’ market share in the first half of 2014 was 8.7%, dragged down by sluggish performance in the first quarter. The figure is down 0.1 percentage point from the same time last year.

Hyundai and Kia’s share in world automotive sales hovered around 6-7% after 2007, then jumping to 8% for the first time in 2010. Since then, the companies have been unable to raise their yearly share above 9%.

But if the Carnival, a new Kia model launched in June, and the Sorento, slated to be released in the second half of the year, take off in sales overseas, the two companies could break the 9% barrier, some analysts believe. The feat would not be impossible, they suggest, presuming that unfavorable circumstances such as the strong South Korean won and the slump in emerging markets can be overcome.

“Of course increasing our share of the global market is important, but we are focusing more on improving the actual quality of our products instead of obsessing over raising superficial figures,” a source at Hyundai Motor said.

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