Hyundai Motor Group goes all-out to regain presence in China

Hyundai Motor Co. Avante N model [Photo provided by Hyundai Motor]

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group is set to aggressively enter the Chinese market by releasing a wide range of high-performance internal combustion engine and electric vehicles with hopes to grab the attention of local consumers in the largest automobile market in the world.

According to multiple sources from the automobile industry on Wednesday, Hyundai Motor Co. will introduce the high-performance N model of Avante, also known as Elantra, in China in October. The N model with customized features for China will be pilot produced at the automaker’s Ulsan plant later this month before mass production in July.

More than 280,000 units of the new Avante sedan that was introduced in China for the first time in September 2020 have been sold as of February. The sedan accounted for 37 percent of Hyundai Motor’s entire wholesale sales last year.

Hyundai Motor’s sales in China have been on a steady decline after reaching 1.14 million units in 2016 due to multiple factors such as the Korea-China conflict over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) placement, branding failure, and China’s closing of borders during the pandemic.

Hyundai Motor’s market share in China was a mere 17 percent last year.

Hyundai Motor, however, is expected to target the market again with its Avante N model as China resumes economic activity after the pandemic.

Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai Motor’s smaller sibling, in the meantime, unveiled Concept EV5, a compact electrified sport utility vehicle (SUV) and a strategic model for China, in Shanghai last month.

Kia Motors aims to sell 170,000 cars in China this year, which is nearly double that of last year’s sales of 89,000 units. The automaker plans to showcase its first all-electric car EV6, high-performance model EV6 GT, and EV5 in China this year and the electric SUV EV9 next year.

“We will rebuild the dealership network in big cities by recruiting large-scale dealership investors to enhance sales competitiveness,” said Song Ho-sung, president and chief executive officer of Kia Motors, at 2023 CEO Investor Day in Seoul on Wednesday. “We will normalize our business in China this year with EVs.”