Hyundai hopes revamped Sonata will boost company fortunes
SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Co. forecast sales of its revamped Sonata mid-size sedans that missed analyst estimates, as South Korea’s largest automaker seeks to regain U.S. market share from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
The carmaker plans to sell 228,000 Sonatas — 63,000 in Korea and the rest overseas — this year, the Seoul-based company said Monday. The sales target compares with an average of 245,000 units from three analysts’ estimates in a Bloomberg News survey.
The introduction of the new Sonata comes after a year of record recalls, a worsening currency-exchange rate and the company’s first annual profit drop in five years. Hyundai is betting on the Sonata to be another hit prod- uct like its predecessor introduced in 2009, which helped the company to gain more market share than any major automaker for the last half decade, and boosted sales in the U.S. and China.
“Hyundai’s performance this year will hinge on how well the new Sonata performs in the U.S. and other key markets,” said Song Sun Jae, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities Co. who has a buy rating on Hyundai’s stock.
Global deliveries of the Sonata fell to 476,103 units last year after peaking at 523,320 in 2011, as competitors introduced fresher offerings. Toyota redesigned the Camry in 2011 and the latest generation of Ford Motor Co.’s Fusion was unveiled in 2012.
Since it was first introduced in 1985, the Sonata has sold more than 6.8 million units worldwide and was Hyundai’s second best-sell- ing model behind the Elantra in the U.S. last year.
Annual sales of the model almost doubled in the U.S. by 2012 following the revamp, according to company data.
For Hyundai, the Sonata will be the most important new model for the company this year as its bestselling Elantra, winner of 2012 North American Car of the Year, isn’t due for a major change until next year.
The overhaul comes as chairman Chung Mong Koo, head of both Hyundai and Kia, is forecasting the weakest sales growth in eight years for 2014 as competition intensifies and the stronger won hampers exports.
Pre-orders for the car opened on March 5 in South Korea. The company has received about 15,000 orders so far, Hwang Chung Yul, vice president at Hyundai, said Monday.