As Most Car Sales Surge, Kia And Hyundai Lag

[DainBramaged]

One of the most extraordinary aspects of July U.S. car sales was the evenness of the advance among the largest firms. The exception to that was once-surging Kia and Hyundai which have suddenly become also ran brands.

GM (NYSE: GM) benefited from the rising success of all divisions. Cadillac sales were up 16.7% month over same month last year, Buick 13.9%, GMC 14.1%, and the giant Chevy division by 17.1%. Given the diversity of the brands and the way that they are aimed across a broad demographic scale, GM has built a success by regaining the broad appeal it had before its bankruptcy.

Ford (NYSE: F) has been nearly successful, with the significant exception of its Lincoln division where sales dropped .8% last month, but are down much more than that for the year. Ford brand sales, on the other hand were up 11.8%

The leaders of unit sales percent increases for most of the last three years were Hyundai and Kia. They replaced Japanese car companies in terms of perception of value and reliability at low prices. The interruption of Japanese car production brought on by the earthquake only helped the two South Korean car companies. Owned by the same parent, they offered remarkably long warranties and wild incentives. And, the programs worked.

However, what a difference a year makes. A short skirmish with the government over the numbers the two car companies posted as MPG caused a humiliating disclosure that the figures were actually wrong. Some portion of owners and potential buyers thought they had been duped. It is still not clear whether either company has rebounded. Hyundai sales rose 6.4% last month, but are up only 2% for the year, Kia sales rose 1.9% but are down 3.1% for the year.


http://247wallst.com/autos/2013/08/04/as-most-car-sales-surge-kia-and-hyundai-lag/


This isn't the first time parent Hyundai has misrepresented it's products to the American consumer:

The Hyundai Motor Company, the South Korean automaker, has won final approval of a settlement resolving a class-action lawsuit that claimed it had overstated the horsepower of 1.3 million vehicles and inflated the value of Hyundai models.

Under terms of the agreement, approved June 16, owners of each vehicle will receive up to $225 in cash, or up to $325 in credit with Hyundai dealers. The cost of the settlement to Hyundai ranges from $76 million to $127 million, depending on whether owners seeking compensation take the cash or dealer credit. The settlement replaces a previous agreement under which Hyundai offered coupons on future purchases.

Hyundai Motor America, the United States arm of the automaker, admitted in September 2002 that it overstated the horsepower on the Santa Fe, Sonata, Tiburon and other models sold in the United States. Hyundai's initial coupons-only settlement was rejected by a Texas judge in August.

''We believe this concludes the issue,'' said Mike Anson, a spokesman for Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley, Calif. The parent company is based in Seoul, South Korea.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/business/hyundai-settles-horsepower-suit.html


They still have terrible resale value, and their quality is sctchey at best.


Go Hyundai

[BlackHoleSon]

1. My 2000 Hyundai Elantra is still going

after 12-13 years.
No major repairs, just maintenance.
34 MPG HWY.
And I have driven the HELL out of it.
I guess I was just lucky, though.

[wercal]

5. I would say you have been very lucky

My post no. 4 chronicles my Hyundai experience, with a 2001 Elantra. When brand new, I had to drive very calmly to even get 31 mpg...and in later years, 29 mpg was my best.

I have certainly driven the HELL out of mine too. And I'm amazed its still going.

But I'm one engine no. 2 and clutch no. 5....other repairs include:

front wheel bearings changed often, lower ball joints, rusted fuel line, radiator replaced twice, rear wheel bearings, several half shafts, accessory pulley, power steering pump, every 2 years I have to uncloud the headlights...and it eats bulbs, replaced both sides around 5 times...and there is a general problem I think associated with the alternator regulator that makes the clock run fast (we call it
Hyundai Time'), struts, worn motor mounts, idle air control solenoid, various vacuum tubes, radiator hoses, and probably a whole bunch of stuff I can't remember right now.

I still like it though.

Not included in that list are things destroyed by my own stupidity...not replacing the timing belt before it snapped . That's another long list.

[dsc]

2. many people in my family bought Hyundais while I bought a Ford Focus

My sister just put a small fortune into hers to get it back to half decent while mine was still going strong after the same 9 years. I traded mine in for a new Focus as I have a new job with a long commute and wanted to have a car that would remain reliable. I had 150k on the car when I traded it in and had only put in an alternator, battery, tune up, and a few sets of tires, plus the usual oil changes and brake jobs.

[BainsBane]

3. Hyundai has some nice cars

When I was used car shopping there is one I wanted but couldn't get the price down low enough so ended up with a Mazda5. Some of their cars are also rated highly.

[wercal]

4. I've owned a Hyundai for 11 years now...my report:

Its a 2001 Elantra.

Pros -

-Look, any car that gets a quarter million miles on it has something good going for it.
-Electronics - my older fords and chevy's had annoying electrical issues by the 150k mile mark
-Ease of repair - I fix what breaks on my cars, and hands down this one is the easiest compact type car I've ever worked on
-Interior - still looks pretty good, after all these years...an improvement over the fords I have owned
-body - I know earlier Hyundais had rust problems like crazy, but they have improved it. My car has outperformed ford and chevy in that area

Cons -

-Clutch. I replace mine every 80k miles. I do the work myself....but if I had to pay somebody to do this, it almost totals the car
-Engine. This is a cheap car, alright. I paid $11,500 for it brand new in 2002...knowing this is supposed to be a 'disposable' car. The engine blew at around 180k. One of the connecting rods broke in two, and smashed a hole in the block. This is an unusual failure mode for a car
-Bearings. I've replaced them 3-4 times each side. Something about the bearings isn't designed well.
-Misfire. This is my biggest complaint, and the one that really annoyed me the most with the dealer. While still in the 100k warranty, the car would misfire severely, often times giving me a flashing amber check engine light. This happened especially while climbing a steep hill. I took it to the dealer...it was in warranty, so the 'checked the plugs'...and they were 'bad'. I had already 'checked the plugs' and replaced them. The allegedly bad plugs were just a few days old. Anyway, any further investigation would take their computer, and they said I would have to pay for computer time, if it didn't find any problem. I said forget it...then they wanted me to pay them to 'clean my injectors'. Screw that. Over the following months, I took it back a few times, but was unable to get any satisfaction....since I was unwilling to spend money on an in-warranty car problem. They managed to wait me out, and eventually it clicked over 100k miles and out of warranty. I tried some things that worked at first...but only worked for a few months - ended up replacing all spark plugs again, replaced wires, replaced both coils. Every time I replaced one of these components, it would work well for a while...but eventually revert back to the serious misfire. Finally I had the sense to replace the plugs and wires with aftermarket wires and iridium plugs. The problem was solved instantly, and has not come back for 150k miles....on those very same aftermarket plugs and wires. I view this whole business as a design problem, and Hyundai's fault.
-Lower control arm. Hyundai has a recall on these, because corrosion can cause them to snap in two...very dangerous. However, the recall doesn't apply to me, since I don't live in a 'salt state'. A Hyundai owner in Nebraska gets the recall, since they use salt...but here in Kansas I don't get the recall, allegedly because salt isn't used here?

I think Hyundai is like a lot of other companies. I generally like the product, but there were some significant flaws, and customer service was awful. Hey, this is a disposable car, and I'm still driving it. Through my own fault, the odometer stopped working at 280k around a year ago, so its probably over 300k by now. So its been a good ride. But their service department was terrible.

Hyundai's price point will keep it going strong, I believe. And some of its cars allegedly get very good mileage. They seem to have missed with their sporty cars though - the Tiburon and Veloster haven't been break away hits, in my observation.