Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Hyundai scrambling to keep U.S. market share but lacks inventory

Hyundai owns five percent of the U.S. retail market share, but it's trying to maintain that number with razor-thin inventory levels. According to The Detroit Free Press, the situation has forced the automaker to cut back on fleet sales and pump out every vehicle it can from its Alabama assembly plant, which is prepping a third shift in the fall.

How constrained is Hyundai's vehicle supply? Looking at the traditional measure of dealer inventory in "days supply," Hyundai tracks absurdly low, at just 25-27 days, or less than one month's supply of vehicles, according to the report. The new 2012 Azera has just 12 days inventory available. The Freep says that despite its five-percent share, for every 1,000 vehicles sitting on all dealer lots across the U.S., only 25 are Hyundais. Yet the company still expects to sell 700,000 units this year, some 100,000 more than it did in 2011.

John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America's president and CEO, has said consistently that despite rumors of a second U.S. assembly plant, his company has no current plans to build one. Hyundai's South Korean parent has capped global production this year to focus on quality.

"We're still the leanest company in the industry," Krafcik tells the newspaper.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/07/16/h...cks-inventory/

LexFather

If they can balance it out it can really help profits...old inventory just sucks it up....good problem to have, these things are eveywhere in Atlanta and the market has responded.

Truly a great story about rising from the ashes.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

that red azera looks really great.

but about the 'problem' - many other makers would kill to have the same problem, but it can become a real problem is consumers are turning away because they can't find what they want at the dealerships.

Marklouis

Union Strikes threatening Hyundai in Korea, Hyundai building more plants in Alabama and Georgia - but without adequate parts supply from Korea, inventory levels will continue to thin out.

Partywave

I agree. Pontiac had that problem to a more severe degree the last year or two before its demise. In 2006 I wanted to test drive and buy a new Pontiac GTO but I ended up buying a Tungsten Grey with black leather Mustang GT because the two nearby Pontiac dealers had only two GTOs in stock and both were red - a color too likely to garner the attention of cops. It was hard enough to get my wife to test drive a musclecar; she drew the line at red paint so we ended up getting the Mustang which turned out to be an excellent car. Anyway, those Pontiac dealers also had dismal supplies on hand of Pontiac Solstice convertibles and sporty hatchbacks, Toyota-based Pontiac Vibes, Torrent SUVs, etc.

I'm not implying Hyundai is destined to destroy itself like Pontiac did. Hyundai's innovation, quality control, and mass appeal is far too great. But, Hyundai should realize the importance of having vehicles in stock for test drives.