Hyundai’s sales improved 11 percent last month according to the company’s sales release [via EarthTimes], while Kia’s release claims a 2.3 Percent improvement [via PRNewswire]. Elantra was down slightly, and Veracruz fell by over 50 percent, Azera/Amanti are down and Sedona is way down. Otherwise, it’s all sunshine and flowers. Hit the jump for details.

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Think you have it figured out? Hit the jump for the answer…
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Yesterday, we wrote why Hyundai’s unions are unhappy about Hyundai global expansion plans which. For some reasons, the unions think production abroad will harm South Korean jobs.

The unions have reasons for heightened annoyance. Insideline reports that Avtotor may buy the closed down Izhavto plant (Izhavto filed for bankruptcy in August 2009) in Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic, to build Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Avtotor is one of Russia’s largest assemblers of cars that come as kits. And why would that be of concern to Korea’s metal workers? Read More >

If you were a company at time of recession, belt-tightening and countries on the verge of bankruptcy, you’d think that registering record profits and growing global market share at times like these would keep everyone at your company happy, right? Wrong. Members of Hyundai Motor’s union are angry. Livid. Up in arms. And as students of Asian cultures will confirm, Koreans can get, shall we say, a bit hot and bothered about causes close to their hearts.

Koreatimes reports that despite pleas from management for peaceful resolutions, their union has demanded that Hyundai stop expanding overseas and guarantee job security at home – or else. Read More >

When Hyundai introduced its first Tucson in 2004, the term crossover still hadn’t crossed over from the world of marketing into the public imagination. At the time, the term SUV still carried enough equity to convince even the ute-lets built on compact car platforms to emphasize their rugged inspiration with upright, boxy styling and spartan utility. These car-based “cute-utes” were, according to the logic of the time, for consumers who wanted in on the SUVs alleged lifestyle enhancements without the profit-swelling sticker shock and ruinous fuel bills. Today, the crossover has properly crossed over, leaving behind the pretensions of the SUV-weaning generation to assume its own identity in the automotive market. For better or for worse, the new Hyundai exemplifies this new state of the crossover, and it makes the case for itself without reference to its previous status as a cheap substitute for an SUV.
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The Genesis Coupe has all the right bits: sleek styling, relatively compact size, DOHC engines, rear-wheel-drive, $22,750 starting price. Yet the Hyundai’s sales are a fraction of those for the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang. Why aren’t enthusiasts more enthused?

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Hyundai are on fire at the moment. They’re posting good profits at a time of economic instability, their quality & reliability is winning them awards and customers like what they see in their showrooms.  However, that magic formula seems to be losing its lustre elsewhere in the world. The Hindu Business Line reports that Tata Motors have snatched number 2 position from Hyundai in the Indian market. Sucks to be third! Read More >

For years, TTAC has argued that General Motors suffers from a profound lack of accountability. Specific instances include the $2b “Fiatsco,” most of Roger Smith’s tenure, and cars like the Pontiac Aztek and Cadillac Cimmaron. Incidents like these helped GM along its decades-long plunge into bankruptcy, unchecked by the lax corporate governance of what came to be called its Board of Bystanders. Hyundai’s CEO may have received similarly lax treatment from South Korea’s criminal justice system, but at least the shareholders are standing up for their investment.
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Canoe.ca reports that Hyundai are considering the option of a new production plant in Canada, provided the brand’s sales growth continues its upward momentum. “In Canada, if our volumes grow to the point we could support a plant we would consider it”. President and Chief Executive of Hyundai Canada, Steve Kelleher said. But, he warned, “for manufacturers there is a real urge to grow sales and put up plants to meet that growth, but if you do it too fast you lose the focus on what got you to where you are in the first place, and that’s quality.” Goodness, what could he possibly be referring to?

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Hyundai sales kept on climbing in January, though Kia slowed to just 27 units over its January 2009 sales numbers. Combined, Automotive News [sub] reckons they grew 13 percent to 52,626 units. Hit the jump for numbers.

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Hyundai’s fourth quarter profit quadrupled over last year’s fourth quarter results, reports Bloomberg, as net income hit $822m, up from $210m in the same period last year. Operating profit rose 44 percent to $722m. This comes despite an increase in the value of the Won, which has reduced profit on Hyundais exports, which make up half the firm’s revenue. And unlike other automotive firms reaping surprise year-end profits (like Ford), Hyundai’s gains come from increased sales rather than cost-cutting. Hyundai’s overall sales rose 14 percent to 3.2 million units last year, driven by growth in the US and Indian markets. Hyundai finished 2009 with just over five percent of the world market. Hyundai expects sales to rise 11 percent in 2010, and the firm is looking to take advantage of Toyota’s weakness by offering conquest incentives like those now offered by GM, Ford and Chrysler.

We’ve spilled a few pixels on these pages over Hyundai’s dedication to direct injection (DI) technology, even going as far as to crown Hyundai the “new Honda” of motor technology. But DI technology isn’t without its downsides, and Hyundai tells Automotive News [sub] that the technology isn’t likely to appear on future engines with less than two liters of displacement.

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Just in time for Truck Thursday at TTAC comes this hot bit of scuttlebut from Jalopnik: Hyundai might be developing a “highly-capable off-roader.” El Jalop cornered Hyundai USA boss John Krafcik at the Detroit Auto Show and asked him what his development boffins were up to. Krafcik’s cryptic answer is the seed of today’s WAROTD:

“every time our designers get together and start looking at concepts and the future, the first thing that comes out of those meetings — what everyone gets excited about — is the prospect of a Bronco-like, highly-capable off-roader.” As a follow-up on that answer, I asked if he meant a Wrangler-fighter. He answered only by smiling and repeating himself — “highly-capable.”

More capable than a Tucson? Seriously though, it will be a dogs age before Chrysler has the cash to update its bloated JK-generation Wrangler, and Hyundai’s going in for the kill. Or not… Krafic words his answer pretty cagily. Besides, Hyundai hasn’t had an even semi-serious off-roader since it rebadged the Mitsu Pajero to create the Hyundai Galloper (above).

NPR reports that Hyundai’s Assurance Plan, which is widely credited for much of that automaker’s success since the financial meltdown, has been taken advantage of fewer thn 100 times since it was instituted a year ago. In that time, Hyundai has sold over 435k vehicles, meaning the program has cost surprisingly little. Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafic explains:

we treat it almost like a kind of insurance, a kind of social insurance, so we had to make some, you know, financial set-aside for it. And in the end, it ended up being substantially below what our expectations were, thank goodness.

According to Krafic, the program took only 37 days to implement. [Hat Tip: ClutchCarGo]

This graph of Hyundai’s market since 1993 is a refreshing antidote to yesterday’s depressing Detroit market share picture. And it doesn’t take a whiz kid to deduce the single most important factor in Hyundai’s success. Notice a bit of an uptick starting in 1998? That was the year Hyundai introduced its 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty. It’s been suggested before on these pages that GM should address its “perception gap” with meaningful improvements in warranty coverage rather than more talk. After all, if it could fix Hyundais weak 1990s-era rep, it couldn’t hurt The General’s. This seems to be conclusive proof that warranties matter as much as the products they cover. After all, what good are a few extra horsepower or more interior room to a consumer compared to insulation from risk?