Hyundai Growth May Slow Due To Factory Capacity Limits

Hyundai Motor Co after boosting U.S. sales of its cars and trucks 75 percent since 2008, expects its slowest annual growth in the market in five years as the South Korean company bumps up against limits in plant capacity.

Deliveries of Hyundai vehicles should rise 4.4 percent to 734,000 this year, John Krafcik, chief executive officer of the Seoul-based automaker’s U.S. sales unit, said in an interview last week. The increase of about 31,000 units from 2012 will result from improved efficiency at Hyundai’s Montgomery, Alabama, factory, he said.

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HughJass - 3/18/2013 9:27:18 PM

+2 Boost

That must be it, it has nothing to do with a strengthening currency and competing against Toyota/Honda who are now at full strength.

If capacity was an issue, they would have started to build a new plant a few years ago if they had the confidence their growth would continue and wasn't a result of bad luck for the Japs.

cidflekken - 3/19/2013 3:37:30 AM

+2 Boost

The reality for Hyundai is that "the novelty is over". They made a splash with the dynamic styling of the Sonata, but at the end of the day, their cars only proved that they were average, maybe a bit better than average, at best. They didn't surpass the Camry or Accord (even the previous gen) or Fusion in any specific category, except (subjectively) styling. The same can be said for the Genesis against its competition, even in its more powerful form. The new Elantra got pretty tepid reviews when it first came out. And the new Santa Fe and Azera has gotten pretty much the same. And the Equus is just nowhere to be found.