Will Success Spoil Hyundai?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

By Paul A. Eisenstein<o:p></o:p>

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As it enters its third decade in the U.S. market, Hyundai certainly has reason to celebrate, despite the generally dismal state of the American market. Its market share has never been higher. And it has pushed into Japanese territory on most of the credible automotive quality studies. It also scored an unexpected victory this month when a panel of 50 North American journalists voted the automaker\'s first luxury model, the Genesis sedan, its North American Car of the Year (NACOTY). The Genesis also ranked high as a 2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year finalist.<o:p></o:p>

"We need third-party validation, says Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik, adding that, "In the end, you can only say so much on your own and need the endorsements." The Korean automaker\'s push into the luxury segment is a cautious one. Hyundai officials initially considered the creation of an entirely new marque, much like Toyota\'s Lexus or Nissan\'s Infiniti, but decided to keep Genesis "in-house." The NACOTY award "validates the decision we made (and) has gotten the spotlight shining on Hyundai," contends Krafcik. In the coming weeks, Hyundai will slowly roll out its second Genesis model, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, a car that company officials promise will have more of a "bad boy attitude." So far, Korean planners have been reluctant to commit still more Genesis product, at least for the States. They\'re taking the nameplate even more upscale in the home market, with a series of models that will launch over the next several years. But according to Krafcik, the car of the year win is leading the automaker to think again about that timid strategy. "It will get us to think long and hard about where we want to go," says the former Ford product development executive. And while it will take several years, he hints that an expansion of the Genesis line-up is growing increasingly likely. Indeed, success has Hyundai revisiting the idea of setting up a separate Genesis division. Such prospects raise some fundamental questions about Hyundai\'s overall direction, especially when it comes to the products it has best been known for.<o:p></o:p>

When it first burst onto the North American scene -- initially in Canada, then the U.S. -- with cheap-and-cheerful products like the Pony and Excel, Hyundai\'s selling proposition was simple: it boasted the lowest price on the market in whatever segment it competed in. Today, it still maintains a cost advantage with entry-level models like Elantra and Accent. But it\'s becoming more difficult for Hyundai to rely on price alone -- in part because of the simple fact that it no longer has a huge cost advantage at its Korean plants, where workers\' wages have risen sharply over the past two decades. That\'s a major reason why the maker justified opening up a plant in the U.S., in 2007. While that plant is rated one of the most efficient of any of the so-called "transplant" assembly lines, the margins on models like Elantra and Accent simply don\'t come close to those on Genesis or the big crossover/SUV, Veracruz. "There\'s a natural tendency for automakers to shift up-market, suggests auto analyst Jim Hall, of 2953 Analytics, in Birmingham, Michigan, though he doesn\'t see Hyundai abandoning the small car market entirely.  In fact, the shift has already begun. Earlier this decade, 65 percent of the Hyundai America\'s volume was in B and C-segment cars, like Accent. Today, that\'s down to 40 percent, and could drop even more, if products such as Genesis and Veracruz gain traction. But size alone doesn\'t tell the whole story. As with its competition, Hyundai is betting that after the current downturn, fuel prices will resume their upward momentum. So, even luxury buyers will downsize. It\'s working on an array of B- and C- models that will have "more sex appeal than they have now," hints Krafcik, which also means more lavishly equipped and costly. A good example is the Veloster show car, which the executive notes would translate into a small production car "with a lot more appeal, and (which would) be more expensive than the current base level cars" offered by Hyundai.
The timing of the shift makes particular sense, as Hyundai faces a potential threat from new Chinese makers -- who may try to follow past patterns, entering the U.S. with price-leader products, then, eventually, aiming to move up the price ladder.

P.S 이정도 해석은 각자하시길.<o:p></o:p>

1줄요약 : NACOTY도 받아내고 현대가 예전과는 확실히 달라지고 있다.(NACOTY로 인한 칭찬식 분석기사임.)<o:p></o:p>

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