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June 24, 2009
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A midsize Hyundai Avante sedan adorned with ribbons and flowers drove slowly onto a vessel bound for Egypt at a shipyard in Ulsan yesterday. The vehicle was the one-millionth shipped by the Korean automaker to the African market. The first was the Pony, a passenger car sent to Liberia 33 years ago. Hyundai Motor shipped 207 vehicles to Africa that first year, and its exports to Africa have grown rapidly since then. The company’s exports to Africa exceeded 100,000 units in 2005; last year it shipped 160,603 vehicles to the region. Today, it has a commanding presence in the African vehicle market. Hyundai Motor’s share of the African auto market is second only to Toyota. The Korean carmaker holds the largest market share in Egypt, or 26.4 percent. It sold 53,153 vehicles in that country last year. The Avante is the vehicle exported the most, with 129,995 units shipped last year. That’s more than the 12,604 units of the Verna, another passenger vehicle, shipped in the same period. With demand for Korean cars on the rise in Africa in recent years, Hyundai has been strengthening its marketing efforts there. In January 2008, it launched an office in Dubai dedicated to marketing its products. It relocated the office to Cairo in November, when things started to take off. The company was able to raise its market share in the country from 10 percent in 2007 to 11.6 percent in 2008. Even though overall vehicle demand decreased from 1.42 million units in 2007 to 1.33 million in 2008 Hyundai Motor sold 153,000 units in 2008, which was an increase from the 143,000 sold the previous year. The company’s plan is to solidify its “top brand image” worldwide by “aggressively meeting increasing demand in Africa as well as in India and China,” a Hyundai official said. By Lee Ho-jeong [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr] |
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