Hyundai Sales Hurt by Genesis, Sonata Drop

Hyundai says it's the cold weather that hurt sales in February but if truth be told (i.e. the numbers studied a little more in-depth), the problems with sales dropping comes down to two models: the Genesis and the Sonata.

Hyundai sales for the month of February 2014 were 49,003 – down 3,308 from the February 2013 sales figures of 52,311. “I don’t like to make excuses, but the awful weather we saw across the country really hurt traffic to our dealerships and ultimately kept our sales at a pace well below what we were expecting,” said Bob Pradzinski, vice president of sales. “They say ‘If you want to see the sunshine you have to weather the storm,’ so we’re all looking forward to some sunshine in March.”

What Hyundai is really looking forward to is the introduction of the Hyundai Genesis to salesroom floors sometime soon. The 2015 Hyundai Genesis was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show in January. It's no coincidence that sales were down by 1000 units in January and 900 in February because smart buyers are probably holding off for the new model. Why buy an existing Genesis unless you're a value shopper?

Let's not forget that a new Hyundai Genesis coupe is coming, too. Hyundai doesn't break out sales between the coupe and the sedan but at least people know the sedan is on its way. What is less clear is when the new coupe is coming. Historically, one would expect an announcement at the NY Auto Show in April.

Of course, it's already known that the Hyundai Sonata is going to be introduced at the New York show but we guess it's possible that a Genesis coupe could be introduced then as well, especially since Hyundai announced it's going to roll out the Sonata the night before the show at an offsite location. That points to another model being introduced.

How much does Hyundai need a homerun from the new Sonata? In January, Sonata sales were down 3432 units. In February, sales were down 4,827 from the previous year. Combined, that's 8259 Sonatas less and Hyundai sales this year are down 3008 units.

Take Sonata out of the equation and Hyundai sales are up 6.3% year over year and that's including the drop in Hyundai Genesis sales.