Hyundai Struggles

After talking to several Hyundai dealers this week I realized the mood around the country seems to be that Hyundai is struggling because they have lost the advantage from 2011. That advantage stemmed in large part to when the tsunami had major impacts on the Japanese manufacturers. The inventory levels of Toyota, Honda and Nissan in some cases took 18 months to fully recover. Dealers need that time to get back to enough inventory to sustain customer demand and have plenty of selection on the ground to generate immediate sales.

While walking the lot of a Hyundai dealership this week I started looking at the product mix and what the dealer was stocking the most.  I think the reason Hyundai has trended down this year is not due to the rise of Toyota, Honda and Nissan but from a lack of new and fresh products. The Sonata and Elantra are the keys for this brand and both are running on models that are three years old or over. Not to mention a lack of money on the hood to make these cars move is what I think is the biggest problem that Hyundai faces in the next 12 months.