HYUNDAI: The best month of 2022

Hyundai Motor America enjoyed its strongest sales month of the year thanks to solid performances by Hyundai and Genesis crossovers and fuel-sipping "green" offerings, but despite improvement, supply continues to be a drag on volume.

Combined U.S. sales at Hyundai and Genesis slid 12 percent to 67,597 in June. Still, Hyundai brand sales hit a 2022 high of 63,091 during the month, though retail volume fell 5.5 percent. Combined second-quarter volume dropped 21 percent to 198,136. In the first half, both brands logged combined sales of 396,535, a 13 percent decrease. Genesis sales have now increased 19 straight months year over year, while Hyundai volume has declined four straight months year over year.

Hyundai sales boss Randy Parker attributed the declines to the ongoing microchip shortage, saying that it's creating a "distorted" year-over-year comparison because of healthier stockpiles during the first half of 2021.

"This time last year was when the inventory levels really started to go on a downward trend, and from this point forward, you're going to start to see us get a lot closer to [favorable] year over year comparisons," Parker said.

Hyundai is not out of the woods. Hyundai Motor Co. COO Jose Munoz told reporters during a media briefing this week at the company's R&D center in Michigan that the third and fourth quarters will bring them closer to "a normal year" but that they are still battling shortages of chips and other components throughout the global supply chain. Munoz noted that rising interest rates will slow demand and bring them back to "a balance," but until then, demand remains "strong."

Brands: Hyundai, down 13 percent in June and off 23 percent at 184,191 units in the second quarter; Genesis, up 11 percent to 4,506 in June and 26 percent to 13,945 in the second quarter.

Notable nameplates: Palisade, up 1.4% in the second quarter and up 15 percent in June; Nexo, up 88% in the second quarter and up 123% in June; Tucson, down 12% in the second quarter and up 7% in June; Santa Fe, down 6.4% in the second quarter and down 4.6% in June; Sonata, down 65% in the second quarter and 52% in June.

Incentives: $620 in Q2, down 71 percent, according to TrueCar.

Average transaction price: $37,415 in Q2, up 18 percent, according to TrueCar.

Fleet mix: June marked the sixth consecutive month Hyundai recorded zero fleet shipments.

Inventory: Hyundai started June with 19,000 units. Parker said he expects inventory to improve gradually going into the second half.

Quote: "When I first started with the company three years ago, we were running roughly 70 percent passenger cars and 30 percent [crossovers]," Parker said. "Now we have flipped the script and we're running almost 70 percent [crossover] and 30 percent passenger car."

Did you know? Hyundai issued a stop sale on both Elantra and Accent at the beginning of June for issues with seat belt pretensioners. Hyundai said after they fixed the models, both sedans, especially Elantra, came back strong in the second half of the month. The Accent, which will be discontinued for the 2023 model year, finished June up 118 percent with sales of 2,088.