With a competitive roster of crossovers – especially two highly discussed three-rows utilities – Hyundai Motor Company scored a major victory for 2019. Their new products were very well received. And they handily beat their competitors, who generally posted substantial declines for the year. Genesis also had a good year, the brand seems poised to disrupt the luxury segment. Nice job, Korea!
At Hyundai, crossovers are stealing the show. The Palisade found 28,736 buyers for the year, which is a pretty decent showing considering the circumstances. Production has yet to get up to full capacity at the Ulsan, South Korea plant in which it’s made (the Telluride is manufactured in Georgia). It’ll probably easily sell double that number when there’s more to go around. As for Hyundai’s former three row, the Santa Fe was up 9% to 127,323. Hyundai refreshed it not too long ago, and the restyle brought with it an attractive exterior and an upgraded interior, so it’s not too surprising buyers gravitated towards it. That being said, Hyundai’s true winner was the Kona. The company moved 73,326 in 2019, which represented a staggering 56% increase. To be fair, 2018 was the model’s introductory year, but getting up to 73,000 in one year is still noteworthy. Perhaps it stole a bit of the Tucson’s thunder? The compact crossover dropped 3.4% to 137,381. Hyundai also managed to sell 1,077 examples of the Venue subcompact, which very recently reached dealerships. Even with the Tucson’s slight decrease, Hyundai’s crossovers performed very strongly. New models contributed to a 20% increase in crossovers sales, which brought Hyundai’s crossover lineup to 53% of total volume, up from 46% in 2018.
Hyundai’s car lineup didn’t fare too badly though. The Sonata’s 87,466 figure represented a 17% drop. With the mid-size currently undergoing a model changeover that was to be expected. Elantra sales dropped to just over 175,000 for a 13% decrease and the Accent convinced 25,628 buyers to take one home last year, which was about 12% less than 2018. The Ioniq and Veloster were the only cars to post positive numbers, with the Ioniq up 30% to 19,574 and the Veloster up 18% to 12,849. With all the critical praise heaped on the Veloster N, it’s no surprise it did well.
Kia was basically saved by the Sportage and Telluride. Sportage sales increased 7% to 89,278 while the Telluride won over 58,604 buyers. The Telluride’s volume already puts it within spitting distance of the Nissan Pathfinder (65k sold in 2019) and allows it to credibly threaten the Subaru Ascent and Volkswagen Atlas (81k sales each in 2019) in 2020 provided Kia overcomes its supply constraints. Not bad for a vehicle that wasn’t even at dealerships a year ago. Sorento sales decreased 11% to 95, 951 as Kia shoppers likely defected to the red-hot Telluride. Minivan buyers did not favor the Sedona in 2019, which found 2,000 fewer homes last year, for a total a tad under 16,000. Finally, the Soul lost some of its…soul to the tune of about 6,000 and topped out at 98,033 for 2019.
Every Kia passenger car performed worse in 2019. Kia’s bread-and-butter sedans, the Forte and Optima, each lost about 5,500 units of volume. That being said, they still sold in decent numbers, with both finding about 96,000 homes last year. The Stinger dropped 3,000 to 13,861 but will hopefully never be cancelled because it is good looking, sized right, and basically the last of its kind. The Rio, Cadenza, Niro, and K900 were also less popular in 2019, but no one really cares about those cars anyway so the exact numbers are meaningless.
Genesis continues to grow. The fledgling luxury brand was hampered by Hyundai’s constantly changing plans regarding standalone or shared showrooms, and they supremely pissed off some dealers when they eventually decided to opt for a standalone retail sales model. Fortunately, Genesis seems to be finally gaining some traction. The brand is up 106% compared to 2018 and the three amigos sales (G70, G80, G90) totaled 21,233 for the year. Check out these sweet percentage increases: G70 experienced a 434% jump, the G80 went up 158% and the G90 did even better, with a 170% increase. Genesis should have a new motto: “The importance of fresh product and positive buzz.” Can the brand crest 100,000 sales by the end of the decade? Probably.
Overall, Hyundai Motor Company did very well in 2019. Despite some loss in car volume, they introduced some compelling products that more than made up for it. The Palisade and Telluride are poised to be a dynamic duo. And the Venue should perform well because it offers a denim interior. Genesis shows promise too. It seems like 2020 will be another banner year for the automaker.
It remains amazing to me to see how far they have come, and how quickly. If you had told me ten years ago that my first stop in shopping for a new car would be a H-K dealer, I would have laughed. But 8 years of experience with my Sedona has earned that company the right to be my first stop next time I am in the market.
It was not long ago that they were light in SUVs and Crossovers, but that has been rectified. They keep bringing out fresh product at a rate that should be embarrassing to US manufacturers. If getting passed by the Koreans in product appeal and quality isn’t a wake-up slap, nothing is. Yet here we are.
Likewise, another newly found Kia loyalist. Having bought our first two used, the first from a local buy-here/pay-here lot, the second from an independent lot only a step or two higher up, and having gotten excellent service from both, its definitely my first consideration looking for my retirement runabout this spring.
To the point that I’m starting to consider a Soul EV over what would be the usual go-to: a Nissan Leaf.
Giving up 10,000 Forte and Optima sales in exchange for gaining a similar number in Genesis cars seems like a good tradeoff to start and even being down 1% in total it would appear that the average transaction price is way up over last year, what with all the Telluride/Palisade sales. Seems like the path they are taking is a correct one and if I understand correctly, Genesis is due to introduce its own SUV extremely soon.
And I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Soul make up its’ drop and then some when the 2020 results come in. The second-generation car was on runout for most of calender 2019 and the new thirdgen looks quite impressive.
I hate to say something negative here but it seems like every Hyundai or Kia I ride in or know a friend who has one always has an engine light one. In fact I remember my brother in law bought a sonata when new in 2010 and after driving it on a trip a few states over the service light was on. Does anyone here notice this with Hyundai/Kia stuff? I know all cars will have the light come on at some point in time but it seems to happen disproportionately to Hyundai/Kia.
Whatever they invested in the Tell-isade twins appears to have been worth it. It’s always interesting to see a company land a home run like that. Also interested in how the market will receive the new Sonata/Optima. They’ve followed the Toyota & Honda approach of overdone styling and serious investment into platform redesign and interior quality.
They make fully competitive mainstream vehicles now, but what surprises me the most is their lineup of more “enthusiast-friendly” cars. Stinger/G70, N-line, the 3.3T V6 and incoming 2.5T. Right as Lexus has let their genuinely good RWD sedans grow stale and BMW has gone for tech and isolation, these guys make a 365hp turbo six in either aggressive liftback grand tourer or classy 340i-fighting sedan. A manual is available on the turbo-four for a reasonable price and how many stick-shift RWD sports sedans are around anymore?
I hope they can keep it up.
First, I must call myself out as a former anti-Korean car snob- asinine ignorance on my part. Even the Excel wasn’t too bad compared to some offerings back then such as Ultradrive Mopars, Audi,, 4100 Cadillacs, Yugo, CVT Justy, etc.
I’d gladly take those SUVs want a Stinger and love K900- the true successor of old school top teir Buicks. And I drool over the Equus and its Genisis successor. They are making great products and listening to the consumer, earning their good sales.
My parents demographical friends of successful baby boomers are trading their Lexuses and Avalons in for mostly upper level Kia and Genesis. My Mother still loves her older RX350 but finds new Lexus ugly, too sporty and just terrible in her words. She just adores the Telluride though. And a lot of my middle aged peers have mid level Korean cars and are buying their children (the ones that actually drive lol) the entry level ones. And I used to say only drive a Toyota or at least a Volvo., but never a non truck domestic, Kia or Hyundai.
I saw the Venue the other day when I was at the Hyundai dealer for an oil change.
It is a nice vehicle and is quite roomy for a compact crossover. Plus they offer it with a manual transmission option. Under $16,000 at my local dealer for a new Venue with a manual transmission. It is also well optioned
I can see this vehicle being snapped up by folks that want a small crossover that did not like the Kona’s looks
I think the days of the Accent in the USA are coming to an end as the Venue seems to be priced close to the Accent.
I am not surprised about the Elantra, Lots of folks liked the 17-18 but the mid cycle refresh has fallen a bit short in the looks department. I myself like the redone rear with the camera on the trunk but the front end is not really as attractive as the 17-18 models
Here is some pics
Side
Back
Sticker
Nobody pays retail. The dealer is selling it for $16,299 before taxes and other things
Recent Stinger GT2 AWD (Korea’s middle finger to/at the Germans) buyer, NEVER imagined I would be a Kia customer yet here I am. I had a 06 Infiniti G35S some years back that I never quite took to, and the Stinger is everything it was not – save maybe the Nissan VQ exhaust note.
Also trying to sell my stepmother on a Telluride