| VIEW FROM THE TOP
STRONG CONTENDER UNFAZED BY MARKET CONTRACTION MICHEL KAIM Managing Director of Hyundai Motor de México
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Q: What are your top goals as the new Managing Director
Q: How is Hyundai dealing with the current contraction in
of Hyundai Motor de México?
domestic sales?
A: Hyundai operates based on three pillars that are the
A: We expect 2018 to be a difficult year. Domestic sales
bases of our strategy: commitment, quality and customer
have contracted since the second half of 2017, resulting in
service. We have an obligation to our stockholders and
an overall drop of over 8 percent. Having said that, Hyundai
our distribution partners to make our business profitable.
has managed to grow over 20 percent and we think 2018
But, at the same time, our biggest commitment is to our
will be an excellent year for the brand. Our initial goal for
customers and to Mexico in general. Although we have
2018 was to sell 55,000 units and we remain on track.
only four years selling vehicles under the Hyundai brand, our investments in the country go back 30 years. We
We are still in a growing phase. We realized there was
opened our first manufacturing plant in 1989 in Tijuana
demand for our vehicles in areas where we were not present
as Hyundai Translead and today this site employs 7,500
so we opened new dealerships to be close to our clients.
Mexicans. Many of our subsidiaries have now invested in
At the same time, we have grown our representation in
Mexico, including Hyundai MOBIS and Hyundai GLOVIS,
the different market segments competing in Mexico. In
two vehicle brands and a final-assembly plant in Pesqueria,
2017, we covered 55 percent of all market segments with
Nuevo Leon.
our portfolio. After the introduction of Accent, Ioniq and the seven-seater version of Santa Fe, that rate grew to
In terms of quality, all brands try to support their customers
80 percent.
but few can do it for five years. We are so confident about our product offering that we provide five-year bumper-
Q: Which models will drive Hyundai’s growth in this
to-bumper warranties and even protect the vehicle’s
challenging environment?
tires even though we do not manufacture them. This also
A: Based on how the Mexican market behaves and the
links to our goals regarding customer service. We are a
expectations we have for its future development, we think
new brand in the market and we selected our dealership
Creta is a key vehicle for Hyundai. This was our best-selling
network based on the quality they could provide in sales
model in 2017, with over 11,500 units of the total 46,500 we
and aftersales operations. Rather than partnering with
sold. Creta competes in the small SUV segment, which was
aggressive distributors, what we wanted was a distributor
previously nonexistent in Mexico but now has the highest
that could create a unique sales experience.
growth rates in the country.
We have been ranked three times in terms of customer
Accent has also become a strong contender in the country.
service and the lowest score we have received is fourth
This model targets the B segment, which in Mexico
place. Our best year we were ranked in second and in 2017
represents approximately 30 percent of total domestic
we took third place. We have remained among the Top 5
sales. Just by participating in this segment, this model has
players in the market for three years and we are always
been a great success for the brand. Together, Creta and
trying to innovate to offer an excellent client experience
Accent represent close to 35 percent of our total sales.
both in the dealership and through our digital channels.
In June 2018, we also launched Starex as our bet on the cargo segment. This is a 100-percent utilitarian vehicle and we hope to see great results both in the cargo and
Hyundai Motor is a South Korean OEM founded in 1967. The
passenger markets.
company started selling its vehicles in Mexico in 2015 and is now the 10th-largest brand in the market with a 3.6 percent
Q: What is your position on vehicle ownership and how it
market share as of July 2018
will impact sales in the near future?
