AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/04 Report--

With the approval of the Chinese side, Hyundai Motor Group launched three chartered flights from September 3 to 4 to send more than 600 employees and their families to Beijing, according to South Korea's Daily Economic Network and Yonhap news agency. According to the local epidemic prevention regulations, immigration personnel must be quarantined in the designated hotel for 14 days before they can return to the resident hotel or home. At the same time, it is also the first time since the epidemic that foreign chartered flights have flown to the airport near the capital Beijing.

The report also said that the people who took the charter flight included Hyundai's new car research and development, production support personnel and family members of the resident staff. At the end of August this year, Hyundai announced plans to launch nine new models in China, helping to reverse the decline in sales.

According to the information, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. was established on October 18, 2002. it was jointly funded by Beijing Automobile Investment Co., Ltd. and Korea Hyundai Automotive Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 2.036 billion US dollars, 50% each of China and South Korea. The term of the joint venture is 30 years. Beijing Hyundai production base is located in Beijing, Hebei and Chongqing, with an annual production capacity of more than one million vehicles and a total of more than 11000 employees.

Hyundai used to be a car brand in parallel with Japanese and German brands in the Chinese market, but its performance in China in recent years has been lukewarm, and the pace of brands and products has been unable to keep up with the mainstream pace. At present, the market share in China has dropped from 5.1% then to 3.1% today. From January to July this year, Hyundai's cumulative sales in China fell by 31.3%, which is still lacklustre compared with other foreign car companies.

To this end, Hyundai announced its strategic layout of acceleration in China at the end of August this year. According to Hyundai, since the launch of the new Sonata in China in July, the four-door sedan will also launch new models of Elantra, Mingtu and Festa one after another; for SUV models, it will launch CUSTO, ix35 and Tusheng; for medium and large SUV, it will export a new flagship SUV Palisade to China next month; and for electric vehicles, it will launch a medium-sized SUV model IONIQ5 based on the exclusive platform of electric vehicles.

Among them, the 10th generation Sonata of Beijing Hyundai has been on the market in July, with a price range of 16.18-205800 yuan, powered by 1.5T engine + 7DCT double clutch transmission, and 2.0T engine + 8AT gearbox power combination.

It is worth noting that Hyundai has decided to start the sale of imported cars in the Chinese market, and will launch an appointment for sale at the Beijing auto show at the end of September as the first imported model with seven seats in the flagship series, the SUV Paristee. This is the first time that Hyundai Motor Group has announced that it will set up a sales network in China. Previously, the company's sales business in China are sold by agents. Hyundai hopes to consolidate its position in the global market through the development of imported cars in China.

Hyundai Motor's unsatisfactory market performance in China in recent years has put it under market pressure. In order to reverse the decline in sales, Hyundai has made frequent adjustments to its executive personnel and organizational structure since 2019. Li Guangguo, former minister and vice president of Hyundai Motor Corporation in South Korea, is the president of Hyundai Motor Group (China) and is responsible for the overall business of Hyundai and Kia in China.

At the same time, in September last year, Hyundai Motor appointed Li Feng as vice president of Hyundai Motor Group (China) and general manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia, which is the first time that Kia has hired a Chinese CEO for the joint venture Dongfeng Yueda Kia. Li Feng will be responsible for managing Kia's local production, sales, planning and other business in China. Li Feng served as executive deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai from 2009 to 2013, as well as positions at BAIC Futian, Chery, BAIC, Baoneng and Qoros.

In addition, Hyundai Motor Group (China) has appointed Mr. Li Hongpeng as Vice President of Commerce, which is mainly responsible for the strategic planning and market development of Hyundai Motor Group brand in China. Li Hongpeng has worked in Beijing Mercedes-Benz and Ford China.

In 2019, Beijing Hyundai's overall sales were 716000 vehicles, a slight decline compared with the same period last year. In 2020, Hyundai Motor has declined by 31.3% in China, and its market share has further declined. it remains to be seen whether the performance of new cars can be saved in the future.

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