Hyundai/Kia Are Now Part Of The Top Fleet, Along With $3bn Investment

Fleet sales by Hyundai and Kia are in the top seven of overall fleet sales which has equated to more than a fifth of their complete sales, with Ford motors on the top spot with 29%, Fiat Chrysler with 24% and Hyundai-Kia with 21%. General Motors comes after with 20% and Nissan's North American arm with 19%. This is compared to Hyundai and Kia's 19% in 2015.

Although the Korean car company have limited commercial fleet in roads, they have built up their fleet endeavours over the last few years and have gained many business clients along with rental contracts increasing their fleet sales to 206,200 cars in 2016. Hyundai/Kia and Nissan's total fleet sales increased by 111,900 cars which is almost double the complete 2016 US light vehicle growth of 56,211.

Hyundai and Kia have big plans in the next few years to build up their fleet and retail sales with a planned $3.1 billion to be invested in the next five years. New U.S.-based car plants may also be in the pipeline, which could also be a reaction to new president Donald Trump proposing tax imports, meaning home-based manufacturer in the U.S. makes more sense. If the taxation on imports was to go ahead it could mean a 35% tax on vehicles being imported from Mexico, where many auto manufacturers have taken advantage of lower labour costs. The planned investment is also backed up by criticism by Trump saying that the brand has the lowest ratio of cars manufactured in the U.S. to cars being sold.

However, Chung Jin-haeng Hyundai's president denies the planned investment is from the criticism from Trump and the new US car plant would entirely depend on if demand improved under the Trump administration. 'We have to be committed to the US market - a strategically important market which can make or break our global success,' Chung Jin-haeng stated recently.

The current plans for the $3.1 billion spend is for retooling present factories in the U.S. and investing in self driving vehicles and all future technologies. Kia stated that last year it plans to build 400,000 cars per year at its present Mexico plant, but the company stated recently that the final figures may change in the future. Hyundai and Kia both propose sales to increase by 5% in 2017.