Hyundai Has Record Sales for 2010 with Sonata Success

Hyundai finished 2010 with record sales of 538,228 with almost all of its 103,164 unit growth coming from the phenomenal success of its Hyundai Sonata. The midsize sedan saw growth in retail sales of 90,349 – the highest in the industry.

The company is trumpeting its sales growth based on its sale to actual retail customers and less of a dependence on fleet sales. Full year retail sales were up 35 percent with fleet mix for the year at 16 percent.

“December was the capstone to a good year for Hyundai, with our total sales results actually understating the more important gains we made at retail, where we added a full point of market share,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement. “While we grew total volume 24 percent, retail volume through our 800-strong dealer network climbed 35 percent, or 115,786 units, with 90,349 of that retail gain coming from the game-changing 2011 Sonata.”

“That marks the biggest retail sales increase of any car in the entire industry, and it shows how well consumers have responded to our high-tech 4-cylinder lineup, dynamic new design, and the mid-size segment’s first 5-star 2011 NHTSA crash test result,” Krafcik added. “Improving Sonata Turbo availability, and the lithium-polymer battery-powered Sonata Hybrid that arrives later this month, should help Sonata find a few more buyers in 2011.”

The all-new Elantra is quickly distinguishing itself as a rising star. It found 4,724 homes in its first full month of availability. Genesis continued its impressive growth with the 18th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases. For the year, Genesis sales increased 33 percent, to 29,122.

Hyundai’s all-new flagship Equus, with higher residual value than Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, and Audi A8, began hitting showrooms in December to high demand and limited availability, resulting in 196 sales. Hyundai targets Equus sales volume of 2,000 to 3,000 in 2011.

Hyundai 2010 Sales
CARLINE CY/2010 CY/2009
Accent: 51,975 68,086
Sonata: 196,623 120,028
Elantra: 132,246 103,269
Tiburon: N/A 8,587
Santa Fe: 76,680 80,343
Azera: 3,051 3,808
Tucson: 39,594 15,411
Entourage: N/A 3,433
Veracruz: 8,741 10,210
Genesis: 29,122 21,889
Equus: 196 N/A
TOTAL: 538,228 435,064