Hyundai Motor's operations in Europe will probably delay its sales and market share targets for the mid-term by at least a year as the overall demand for vehicles in the region remains sluggish, prompting many carmakers – strong and weak – to raise concerns. Allan Rushforth, chief executive of Hyundai Motor Europe, told Reuters in an interview that he suspects that Hyundai’s targets of selling 500,000 cars in 2013 and achieving a 5-percent market share in 2015 are being deferred by one year to be realistic as the market decline exceeded the carmaker’s expectations. Rushforth remarked that Hyundai would be targeting 500,000 sales in 2013 and 5-percent market share in 2016 at the earliest. Hyundai aims to grab a 3.5 percent share of the European market for 2012, and an increase of 0.1 or 0.2 percentage points in 2013. Hyundai, together with its South Korean affiliate, have been two of the few volume carmakers able to post increase in sales in Europe despite the current economic situation in the continent that has been discouraging consumers to spend their money big-time. Hyundai's market share in EU and EFTA markets soared from 2.9 percent to 3.4 percent in the first eight months of 2012, according to data from industry organization ACEA. During the same period, the automaker sold 291,276 cars, for a 10.6-percent increase over 2011.
Hyundai may delay European market share targets by a year
by Gerald Ferreira, Email, 27 Sep, 2012
