Hyundai steers into fourth position
Zhu Ming, a 38-year- old taxi driver in Beijing, is a happy man. He says his job has become much easier since his company replaced his old Citro?n mini-car last year with the Sonata, a mid-sized sedan made by Hyundai Motor.
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He says people waiting for taxis outside hotels or the airport often prefer his car to others. "When they are busy, they take whatever taxi they can. But they often let old taxis go by to be able to take mine, if several taxis stop in front of them."
The tale illustrates the increasing popularity in China of cars made by Hyundai, South Korea's largest carmaker. Backed by a stronger brand image, mainly due to the improved quality of its vehicles, Hyundai has become the fourth largest seller in potentially the world's biggest car market, only three years after its entry.
Sales at Hyundai's carmaking joint venture in Beijing jumped 62 per cent to 233,688 units last year, helped by a big order from the capital's taxi authority to refurbish its vehicles ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors accounted for a combined 11.6 per cent of Chinese car sales in 2005, although they had only entered the market at the end of 2002 - the last of the big foreign brands to arrive.
"No one imagined they would do this well in China," says Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.
Hyundai earned a net profit of $250m on China sales of $2.9bn last year, as its Elantra compact car became China's second best-selling after the Xiali, a low-cost car produced by Toyota partner Tianjin FAW Xiali Automotive.
Hyundai says well-timed releases of new models and an efficient supply chain and production process, based on strong quality and services, have helped the company vault to the top tier of China's very competitive car market. "We are moving fast to launch new models with the right timing to meet changing customer needs," says Noh Jae-man, president of Beijing Hyundai.
Last year, Hyundai introduced the Tucson, a sports utility vehicle, and the NF Sonata, a mid-range saloon, on top of the EF Sonata and the Elantra. And now, this month, it plans to launch the Accent, a new sub-compact model, into the Chinese market, reflecting what the company sees as a shift to smaller cars.
Emory Zhang at Auto Resources Asia, an automobile consultancy, predicts that the Accent will become a "new star" in the sub-compact segment, as Beijing encourages consumers to buy more "economical" cars amid energy shortages.
Hyundai expects that the Accent will help it increase Chinese sales by nearly30 per cent this year to 300,000 units, which could make it the third largest carmaker behind the joint ventures between GM and Shanghai Automotive, and Volkswagen and Shanghai Automotive.
"The market is expectedto grow by about 15 per cent this year, but we aim tooutgrow the market," says Um Kwang-heum, Beijing Hyundai's chief operating officer.
Hyundai's Beijing plant already boasts the highest productivity among its overseas factories, with the operating ratio almost hitting 100 per cent - a much higher utilisation rate than that of its rivals in China.
Hyundai is building asecond plant in Beijing for $900m to double capacityby 2008, while Kia, which has formed a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor and Yueda Group, is also setting up a second plant near Shanghai. The increased capacity will lift the group's overall Chinese production to almost 20 per cent of its global output by 2010, compared with a current proportion of 9 per cent.
But Hyundai is also facing mounting competitive pressure in China as multinational companies jostle for a bigger market share, offering price cuts and big incentives. GM and other rivals announced fresh price cuts earlier this year, sparking renewed concerns about eroding profit margins. Hyundai saw its operating profit margin in China fall from 10.8 per cent in 2004 to 8 per cent last year.
"Industry capacity is outpacing demand by a large margin. Such a trend is likely to continue for a while. The question is how long and how far prices will go down," says Mr Noh.
Hyundai says it is not planning any price cuts, but will increase the number of dealer shops to 350 this year from 280 last year, in order to drive sales growth. And it will focus on raising quality and brand value while cutting production costs.
Analysts say Hyundai should enrich its product line-up and shift towards premium cars in the long term as the mainland economy continues to grow and Chinese consumers get richer.
"Because of the intense price war, it will be difficult for Hyundai to continue enjoying the high margins it had in the past," says Chung Sung-yup, an analyst at Daiwa Securities. "But it will be able to maintain higher margins than the industry average, as long as it can move up the value chain."
现代汽车热销中国
朱
铭（Zhu Ming，音译），一位38岁的北京出租车司机，是一个快乐的人。他表示，去年他所在的出租汽车公司用现代汽车(Hyundai Motors)生产的索纳塔(Sonata)中型轿车，换下了他原来的那辆富康(Citro?n)轿车，此后，他的生意好多了。
朱铭称，在酒店外面或机场等车的乘客，往往喜欢选择他的索纳塔，而不是其它出租车。“在他们急于用车的时候，有什么车就坐什么车。但如果他们面前停着好几辆出租车，他们往往会让那些陈旧的轿车开过去，然后打我的车。”
这说明，现代汽车公司的产品在中国越来越受欢迎，该公司是韩国最大的汽车制造商。由于产品质量的提高，现代汽车有了更为强大的品牌形象，因而在进入中国市场仅仅3年之后，便已经成为中国这一全球最大潜在市场中，排名第四的汽车厂商。
去年，现代在北京的合资公司的销量大幅增长62%，达到23.3688万辆。这得益于来自北京出租汽车主管部门的巨额订单，该部门计划在2008年奥运会以前，对出租车进行更新换代。
2005年，现代与旗下起亚汽车(Kia Motors)在中国汽车销售中总计占有11.6%的份额，而它们2002年年底才进入中国市场，是来得最晚的大型外资汽车品牌。
韩国证券投资公司(Korea Investment & Securities)分析师Suh Sung-moon称：“没有人想到过现代在中国的表现会如此出色。”
该公司去年在华销售额达29亿美元，净利润为2.5亿美元。该公司生产的伊兰特(Elantra)紧凑型轿车成为中国第二畅销的产品，仅次于夏利。夏利是一款低成本汽车，由丰田(Toyota)在华合作伙伴天津一汽夏利汽车股份有限公司(Tianjin FAW--XiaLi Automotive)制造。
现代称，在高水平质量和服务的基础上，公司选准时机，推出新车型，同时供应链和生产流程效率很高，这使得现代得以在竞争激烈的中国市场跻身一流公司行列。北京现代总经理卢载万表示：“我们正迅速行动，适时地推出新车型，以满足消费者不断变化的需求。”
去年，该公司推出了途胜(Tucson)运动型多功能车(SUV)，并在索纳塔和伊兰特的基础上，推出了NF御翔(NF Sonata)中级轿车。本月，该公司又计划在中国市场推出经济型轿车雅绅特(Accent)，反映了该公司产品向小型化的转变。
汽车业咨询公司亚洲汽车资源(Auto Resources Asia)的Emory Zhang表示，面临能源短缺，中国政府鼓励消费者购买更“经济”汽车，因而预计雅绅特将成为经济型汽车中的一颗“新星”。
现代预计，雅绅特将助其将今年在华销量提高近30%，达到30万辆，这可能使其成为在华第三大汽车制造商，仅次于通用汽车(GM)和上海汽车(Shanghai Automotive)、以及大众(Volkswagen)和上海汽车建立的合资企业。
北京现代首席运营官Um Kwang-heum表示：“预计市场今年的增幅约为15%，但我们的目标是超过这一速度。”
北京现代已在自诩，在现代的所有海外工厂中生产率最高，其开工率几乎达到100%，这一比率远远高于其国内竞争对手。
现代正投资9亿美元，在北京兴建第二家工厂，以便在2008年之前将产能翻番。而起亚也正在上海附近建设第二家工厂，该公司已经与东风汽车(Dongfeng Motors)和悦达集团(Yueda Group)建立了一家合资公司。提高后的产能，将使现代集团在华总产量在全球产量中所占比例，在2010年之前升至20%左右，目前这一比例为9%。
不过，目前现代在中国也面临着越来越大的竞争压力，因为跨国公司通过降价和重大促销举措，争抢更大市场份额。今年早些时候，通用和其它竞争对手宣布实行新一轮降价，再度引发了市场对于利润率不断下滑的忧虑。去年，现代在华营业利润率从2004年的10.8%，降至8%。
卢载万表示：“目前行业产能明显超出需求。这种趋势可能还会持续一段时间。现在的问题是，降价还要持续多长时间，幅度又是多少。”
现代表示，公司尚无降价计划，不过今年将增加经销商店数量，从去年的280家增至350家，以推动销售增长。同时，公司将在削减生产成本的同时，集中精力提升质量和品牌价值。
分析师表示，随着中国大陆经济持续增长，及中国消费者日渐富裕，从长远看，现代应丰富其产品线，并将重点转向高级轿车。
“由于激烈的价格战，现代将难以继续维持过去那种高利润率水平，”大和证券(Daiwa Securities)分析师Chung Sung-yup表示，“但只要它能向价值链的高端推进，就将能够保持高于业内平均水平的利润率。”
