Hyundai Motor lays out US recovery plan, places hope on new SUV models

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. laid out its US sales turnaround plan on Monday – which includes an expanded line-up of sport-utility vehicles (SUV) – after posting its biggest quarterly profit jump in seven years. To maintain momentum in the US – its biggest overseas market – Hyundai plans to boost the proportion of SUVs in its US line-up to 67% by 2023 from 51% in 2019, as it works to catch up with a shift in consumer preference.

With sales of its upgraded Palisade SUV, the Korean automaker forecast its US market share to rise again this year starting from the second half, targeting a year-end share of 4.2% versus 3.9% last year. It aims for a US share of 5.2% by 2023. Solid performance at home and in the US in the three months through June helped offset a sales slump in China, where a slowing economy, trade war with the US, and a lack of competitive models prompted the automaker to suspend production at its oldest factory earlier this year.

Since last year, Hyundai has brought in a flurry of foreign executives as part of a sweeping reshuffle of the firm dominated by Koreans. Most recently, in April, it appointed an ex-ally of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd’s ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn as global CEO and Americas chief.

Operating profit rose 30.2% on a 9.1% increase in revenue, the automaker said in a stock exchange filing. Hyundai stock closed down 1.1% after the earnings announcement, versus the broader market’s KS11 0.1% fall.