“I think it is difficult for Hyundai and Kia Motors to expand into the Chinese market because they are ‘Korean cars.’”
Chinese journalists, influencers, and automobile industry officials who met at the ‘Beijing Motor Show’ held in Beijing on the 25th unanimously diagnosed Hyundai and Kia Motors’ slump in the Chinese market. Hyundai Motor Company’s sales in China fell from 1.14 million units in 2016 to 240,000 units last year, and the sales of Beijing Hyundai, Hyundai Motor Company’s Chinese subsidiary, last year (KRW 4.7632 trillion) plunged 76.3% compared to 2016 (KRW 20.1287 trillion). On this day, Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors presented premium models and high-performance electric vehicles targeting the Chinese market at their respective booths. Hyundai Motor Company unveiled the ‘Ioniq 5 N’ model of the high-performance ‘N’ brand, and Kia unveiled the ‘EV5 Long Range’ compact electric SUV.
‘Tongyin Bro’, a Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) influencer with 1.21 million followers who specializes in vehicle reviews, said about the reason why Hyundai and Kia Motors are performing poorly in the local market, saying, “There are no problems with the cars, but the national brand called ‘Korea’ is holding them back. “There is,” he diagnosed. He pointed out, “Just looking at the comments on my account, most people are evaluating Korean cars negatively due to the deteriorating relationship between China and Korea.” Gao Luoxiang (30, Xiangxiang), a vehicle information influencer on B-Zan (Chinese version of YouTube) with 810,000 followers, said, “Hyundai and Kia Motors have weak national brands compared to other foreign cars, and ‘Neijuan (chicken game)’ )’ He said, “We are also losing price competitiveness in the Chinese automobile market, which is suffering from serious problems.” Reporter Xing Chong (27) of the Chinese automobile media outlet ‘Zhiliao Qiche’ also said, “Political reasons (such as China’s negative sentiment and policies toward Korea) have lowered the value of Korean car brands.”
The overall quality evaluation of Hyundai and Kia Motors was favorable. Reporter Xing said, “Hyundai and Kia Motors have good cost-effectiveness, a wide range of products, and a long history of being rooted in China, which are their strengths,” adding, “In particular, in the past, Beijing police and public institutions used official vehicles as official vehicles.”[公車]“It is widely used, so the quality evaluation itself is high,” he said. Bro Tung-in said, “Clear ‘cost-effectiveness’ is the strength of Korean cars,” and added, “The newly launched Santa Fe in the Chinese market has a good price-to-performance ratio, and there is a growing awareness that Hyundai’s major models have superior completeness and performance compared to Japanese brands such as Toyota.” “It’s spreading,” he said. He said, “The Hyundai and Kia booths are unusually crowded at today’s exhibition, and the cost-effectiveness of Korean cars means that they are effective weapons.” Gao Luoxiang also said, “I test drove an N brand vehicle in Korea last month, and I was surprised at how the driving experience changed 180 degrees depending on the driving mode selected.”
Mr. Xing Mo (40), an official in the Chinese automobile industry, said, “Hyundai Motor Company’s latest models, including the Shengda (the All New Santa Fe) (scheduled to be launched in China in the second half of this year), have[造形]“It’s still beautiful,” he said. However, he said, “The downside is that in terms of smartization, it still seems to be lacking compared to Chinese electric vehicles,” and added, “Hyundai and Kia Motors need to create an image that they are ahead of the curve in cutting-edge technology.”
It was assessed that it is urgent for Hyundai and Kia Motors to renew their brand image in order to take a leap forward in the Chinese market. Gao Luoxiang said, “In China, you need to create a good ‘product story,’ but foreign cars are weak in that area,” and added, “You won’t be able to change the game with low prices without a message that moves Chinese consumers.” Reporter Singh said, “Hyundai Motor Company’s high-performance IONIQ 5 N, which will be released in the second half of this year, has excellent performance, but is expected to only form a fan base due to its high price,” adding, “The positioning of other Korean car models in the saturated Chinese automobile market is also unclear.” He said.
However, Mr. Han (22), a college student from Beijing who visited the motor show on this day, said, “When I was in elementary school, I had the stereotype that Hyundai cars were taxi-only cars and boring cars, but these days, they are becoming ‘chao (trendy).’ “Thanks to the design, interest is growing among young people,” he said.
A Hyundai Motors official who met at the motor show booth on this day said, “The main goal of the new model launched in China is to enhance Hyundai Motor Company’s brand value rather than expand sales,” and added, “The market share of electric vehicles in the Chinese automobile market is expected to exceed 50% within a few years, so electric vehicles “We will continue our strategy of actively targeting demand,” he said.
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