Hyundai JV sets out strategy in declining auto market

Beijing Hyundai Motor, the Chinese joint venture of South Korea's biggest automaker, will strengthen the release of its products as part of its effort to overcome the declining vehicle market, a company executive said on Friday.

According to Fan Jingtao, deputy general manager of Beijing Hyundai, in the first three quarters, the company's sales reached 560,000, an increase of 14.29 percent compared with the same period last year.

Beijing Hyundai is under great pressure in the fourth quarter in sales, Fan said.

China's auto sales market has dropped continuously for the past three months and vehicle sales last month tumbled 11.55 percent to 2.39 million units compared with September of last year, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Under such circumstances, Beijing Hyundai set its sales target for the fourth quarter to at least match the sales of the same period last year - 300,000 units.

"Beijing Hyundai is cautious about next year's plan, because now the car plants have large production capacity and many models continue to be released. Car manufacturers will have fierce competitions in product, brand and price," Fan said.

To better survive in the competition, the company released a so-called "transverse matrix" product layout last year, focusing on basic, performance and new energy vehicle systems, as well as electric, intelligent and network-connected technologies.

The La Festa, newly launched on Friday at Beijing Hyundai's Yantai research and development center in Shandong province, is the first high-performance sedan of the transverse matrix; the model is only provided to Chinese customers.

Beijing Hyundai offers five variants of the La Festa at suggested prices ranging from 119,800 to 154,800 yuan ($17,298-$22,340).

Targeting the young generation, the sedan is designed in the theme of sensuous sportiness and equipped with Hyundai's smart sense system and a Baidu intelligent connection system to provide a number of intelligent features.

According to Fan, the La Festa is expected to sell 20,000 units this year and 100,000 in the next year.

Earlier next year, Beijing Hyundai will launch the large full-size SUV next-generation of Santa Fe, which has been launched overseas.

To cater to the Chinese market, the SUV will lengthen the car body and wheelbase, and equip it with high-tech configurations. In the middle of the next year, the Elantra model's plug-in hybrid electric vehicle will hit the market. The next generation of ix25 and the 10th generation Sonata will be launched by the end of next year.