autos sport

Once upon a time, not long ago, an over-optimistic Korean carmaker set plans to sell 1 million cars in the U.S. market by 2010. Today, the same Korean automaker will be lucky if it manages to surpass the half-a-million mark by the end of 2007, let alone reach 1 million sales in three years from now. Hyundai’s U.S. sales through September reached 358,407 units, down 0.2 percent from the same period last year. In 2006, full-year sales were 455,520 units which makes you wonder how Hyundai will manage to reach the revised goal of 512,000 units (down from 555,000). Hyundai even had to halt production (see here) of its best-selling car, the Sonata sedan, sales of which are down 19.6 percent through September.

Poor sales have created havoc at Hyundai’s American headquarters which is responding with a constant reshuffling of top managers and strategic moves. As Automotive News points out, Hyundai’s decision to bring back dealer ad associations just nine months after getting rid of them is a perfect example of the situation. Guess Hyundai has to learn the hard way that it’s one thing playing the game as an outsider and another as a major player.

Via: Autonews (sub. Req.)