Hyundai pulls out of Japanese car market

[divideandconquer]

How do you spell Hyundai's Kryptonite? J-D-M

by Dan Roth (RSS feed) on Nov 29th, 2009 at 6:19PM

As Hyundai continues to pull itself up by its bootstraps, the company is moving decisively and picking up share around the globe. However, one key market continues to be so problematic for the brand that they've decided to abandon it altogether: Japan. Rather than dodder around and wait for its disappointing performance to improve, Hyundai is tying off the bleeder that is the company's Japanese market presence. The cars themselves, either under Hyundai badging or as Kias, have become contenders in terms of styling and quality, two key indicators of the company's commitment. And the move into Japan was part of Hyundai's worldwide plan for expansion. For all its efforts, though, the famously insular market has deflected this outsider. In the eight years Hyundai has been selling vehicles in Japan, it has only managed to shift 15,000 units.

For all its efforts, 1,875 cars per year just isn't worth it to Hyundai, though it will still try to sell commercial vehicles to Japan. According to the South Korean daily, Chosun Iibo, tariffs are slapped on outsiders selling cars in Japan, and the size of some models Hyundai's been trying to market there doesn't match up with typical Japanese garages and parking spaces. Buyers who have the space for larger cars aren't the ones Hyundai's trying to nab, either. Those purchasers typically pursue higher-end metal.
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More of the "free trade" thats benefits the Japanese auto industry so much

[madrchsod]

1. no shit...."free trade"

this country is the only suckers that bought that shit.

[itsrobert]

2. +1

yup.

[divideandconquer]

3. Do we need to send Commodore Perry again?

This shows the folly of the US turning to Asia for more jobs from exports, these aren't trading partners, they're trading predators.

[dkf]

4. Sounds like the cars are mismatched to the market.

You'd think the strategy would be better thought out. Weird.