DETROIT,
MI – Hyundai Motor America has
been on a steady rise in the U.S. since 1999, but its fight for market share
here has only just begun.
Hyundai is faced with the
same scenario as all companies selling vehicles in the U.S.: Americans want
trucks. Their appetite for SUVs, crossovers and pickups has driven new vehicle
sales to pre-recession heights this year.
But Hyundai's current product mix
is 80 percent sedans. It has but two SUVs it's offering in the U.S. – the Sante
Fe and the Tucson - and also continues to develop a pickup-like vehicle based
on the popular Santa Cruz concept, unveiled in Detroit last January.
Company
president and CEO Dave Zuchowski said the overall U.S. vehicle market is
projected to be up about 3.2 percent this year, but the car segment will be
down 3.9 percent, and the rise will be entirely on the back of the truck
segment, which is projected to rise 10.7 percent.
Hyundai's sales have been steadily
growing, but there is still a large price of the pie to be had.
"Our
stagnation has been primarily from an inability to compete on the truck
side," Zuchowski said Friday at a media event.
Hyundai is going after a
bigger piece of that pie with the new 2016 Tucson, a sporty update to its
compact SUV that goes on sale next month.
The
company expects to sell 56,200 Tucsons this
year, but with an increase in production of the new model Hyundai said it aims
to sell 90,000 units in 2016.
Hyundai will not have a new
subcompact SUV, or CUV, for the U.S. market for a couple years yet, Zuchowksi
said, adding that the company wants to make sure it gets a unique styling for
the booming segment that is focused on younger buyers.
Until
then, the company sees its Tucson as a stepping stone into the CUV category.
The Tucson is
loaded with the latest safety and convenience tech, such as lane departure
warning, blind spot detection and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian
detection.
Also
standard is a hands-free lift gate, with which the driver can approach the rear
of the car with the key fab, wait three seconds, and have the tailgate open
automatically. It has an available panoramic sunroof, optional 19-inch alloy
wheels, heated front and rear seats and ventilated front seats.
Under
the hood, the new Tucson
comes with a couple options: A base, 2.0L GDI that gets 164 horsepower, 151
lb.-ft. of torque and 23 miles per gallon city and 31 mpg highway; or a 1.6L
Turbo GDI that gets 175 horsepower and 195 lb.-ft. of torque, while delivering
26/33 mpg on an Eco version and 25/30 mpg on a Sport & Limited trim.
The
2016 Hyundai Tucson starts
at $22,700 for the base, front-wheel drive trim, and goes up to $34,050 for the
fully-loaded, AWD Limited trim level.
It will
compete with the likes of the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V and the Ford Escape.
In
general, Zuchowski noted that as a "challenger" company coming into
the market, it needs third party validation. That's why it was incredibly
important for the company to be named fourth overall in J.D. Power's 2015 U.S.
Initial Quality Study, in which it took fourth place overall, ahead of names
like BMW, Lexus and Infiniti.
Hyundai has been selling
cars in the U.S. for 30 years, beginning with the 1986 Excel. It began by
selling about 170,000 units back then. The Korean automaker later hit a low
point in 1999, with sales dropping to about 100,000 units annually. It has
steadily climbed since then, though, and sold 725,718 units in 2014.
Through
the first half of this year, the company's sales are up 2 percent to 371,150
units. With the Tuscon
arriving at dealerships next month, no doubt the company expects that rate to
rise further before the end of the year.
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