Southern Charm: Hyundai’s brand footprint in Australia

Korean carmaker Hyundai is the world’s fifth-largest automotive manufacturer and the company managed to grow this big in the short span of 52 years after being founded in 1967. Every year Hyundai Motor Corporation manufactures almost close 24 million commercial vehicles and cars out of its factories across the globe. Before the turn of the millennium the quality of cars coming out of South Korea was questioned by the global automotive industry but over last decade or so we have witnessed a drastic change and improvement in quality standards offered by Korean carmakers, including the likes of Hyundai.

Operations

The company prides itself in investing billions every year in researching and developing sustainable, efficient, advanced, and aesthetically pleasing products and as of 2019 has over 68,000 workers employed across the globe. Nineteen years after its inception in 1967, all Hyundai cars that were sold in Australia from 1986 onwards, were sold as imports because the Korean manufacturer did not have any Australian manufacturing facilities and would have to build its offerings in factories across South Korea, amongst other places. The company was keen on capitalizing on its success and the Korean parent company established its first wholly-owned subsidiary dubbed Hyundai Motor Company Australia in the country in 2003. This was the same time Hyundai went from being one of the largest conglomerates in Korea to being split into five equal parts as a result of the death of the company's CEO and founder. 

Values and Demographics

Hyundai prides itself on being a global leader in safety, design, and as mentioned earlier, quality, all of which are contributing factors for it becoming one of the fastest-growing automotive brands in the land down under. Another key factor adding to the Japanese company's popularity in Australia is its reliability and affordability factor which appeals to Australians across the country.

In Australia, Hyundai offers a nationwide network of over 160 Hyundai car dealers. The Korean manufacturer does not limit its focus to building low-cost automobiles but also prioritizes ease of ownership. Hyundai is the first carmaker to offer Australia first five-year unlimited kilometer warranty and other ownership benefits which include a lifetime service plan. As of July 2019, Hyundai offers a portfolio which boasts of 18 offerings including 4 SUVs, 2 small cars, 1 hot hatch, 1 sport fastback, 2  city cars, 2 plug-in hybrids, 1 mid-size sedan, 2 people movers/commercial vehicles, 1 electric sedan and 1 electric crossover SUV.

Portfolio

The Hyundai portfolio offers a wide range of body types including a city-size Hyundai Accent, to the Hyundai Veloster, which has been described as a warm-hatch. There is also the company’s flagship 7 seat SUV, the Santa Fe and the commendable electric crossover SUV offering, the Kona electric. Other than the Kona and IONIQ EVs, Hyundai's key models in its Australian portfolio arrangement start with the aforementioned Accent city car, followed by Hyundai Elantra and i30, both of which are small car models.

The more premium range of Hyundai offerings start with the mid-size sedan Sonata and finally, we have the Korean company's SUV lineup starting from the standard Kona, followed by the five-seater Hyundai Tucson and the flagship Santa Fe SUV. Both Hyundai Kona and Tucson are offered in 12 variant options. Hyundai also offers a people mover and commercial line up which includes the likes of the Hyundai iMax and iLoad Vans which come in 2 and 8 variant options, respectively with prices for iLoad starting at $40,996 and $iMax at $44990. Hyundai is currently working on introducing the 2019 update of its Veloster three-door hatchback and a compact SUV dubbed the Hyundai Venue.

Current stand and future initiatives

Including Australia, Hyundai sells automobiles in 160 countries but Australia happens Hyundai's second-largest global importer following the United States of America. This meant that Hyundai was motivated to set up assembly plants across the world including South Korea, China, Mexico, Czech Republic, Brazil, Canada, and Turkey. As of now, Hyundai does not assemble any of its models in Australia and has not shown any interest in setting up assembly facilities in the country. 

Over the last decade, Hyundai has become one of the best-selling brands in Australia and its offerings like the Hyundai i30 have managed to become the best selling cars in its segment beating the competition by a substantial margin. Beating the Mazda 3, Hyundai Accent became another segment leader to have spawned from the stables of the Korean manufacturer alongside the Hyundai Elantra which outsold Toyota Corolla. Toyota is Australia's largest car manufacturer which makes Elantra's victory in the segment all the more important for the Korean carmaker.