Hyundai Sales Take End-of-Year Dip in December
Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai Motor America ended December with a modest dip in monthly sales, reporting a 1 percent decline compared to the same month in 2018.
Overall, the automaker sold 64,720 vehicles for the month, just off the 65,107 it sold in December 2018. However, a 9 percent gain in retail sales helped Hyundai make up for a 27 percent drop in fleet sales to nearly break even.
Randy Parker, Hyundai Motor America’s vice president of national sales, noted that the last three months of the year were a period of strong growth for the retail side. “We closed the year strong with retail sales increasing by 13 percent in the fourth quarter thanks to our now complete SUV lineup with seven different options for customers.”
For December, that SUV lineup accounted for 61 percent of Hyundai’s retail sales and nearly 54 percent of total sales.
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At the individual model level, only a couple of Hyundai vehicles scored sales growth for the month. The Elantra battled declining demand for sedans to finish the year with a 24 percent increase. The Santa Fe SUV was up 6 percent, not counting the three-row Santa Fe XL. Although it hasn’t been around long enough for a year-over-year comparison, the new Palisade SUV sold 5,654 units for its best month so far.
The new year is looking fairly promising sales-wise for Hyundai. Along with the popular Palisade, the automaker also has an all-new version of the Sonata sedan, the new subcompact Venue SUV, and the soon-to-be-refreshed eco-friendly Ioniq lineup. Later this year, the next-generation 2021 Hyundai Tucson will be arriving as well.
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A longtime editor/writer and recently transplanted Hoosier, Caleb Cook lives in Xenia, Ohio. His favorite activities are reading and listening to music, although he occasionally emerges from the heap of books and vinyl records in his basement to stand blinking in the sunlight. Once fully acclimated to the outside world again, he can be observed hanging out with his wife, attempting a new recipe in the kitchen, attending movies, walking the dog, or wandering into a local brewery to inquire about what’s on tap. See more articles by Caleb.