HYUNDAI: Inventory recovery drives solid September, Q3 sales

Hyundai Motor America reported another strong month at its Hyundai and Genesis brands, reflecting wider availability of crossovers and fuel-efficient vehicles for Hyundai and continued demand for new Genesis products.

Hyundai's Ioniq 5 electric crossover, the Elantra hybrid midsize crossover as well as plug-in hybrid variants of the Santa Fe and Tucson crossovers led sales for the quarter, according to Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker.

It is the ninth month in a row the Korean automaker has gone without fleet sales, which Parker says demonstrates the company's "commitment to supporting our dealers with ... a great flow of product."

Parker said Hyundai's September retail sales increased 20 percent compared with the same period last year. Third-quarter retail sales rose 13 percent, he said.

Speaking of higher interest rates and negative consumer sentiment, Parker said Hyundai will "need to go through another month or so to have a better understanding of what's happening in the marketplace, but right now we remain cautiously optimistic."

Claudia Marquez, Genesis' COO, said in addition to demand for the GV70 and GV80 crossovers, the redesigned G90 and the electric GV60 compact crossover are also garnering high interest. The Electrified G80 sedan is now on sale and Genesis opened EV sales to four new states in September, bringing the total to eight.

Brands: Hyundai, up 3.3% in Q3, the brand's first quarterly increase since 2021 Q3; September sales rose 11%; Genesis,15,212 sales in Q3, representing a slight increase over the same period last year; Genesis' September volume rose 0.8 percent to 4,907.

Notable nameplates: Hyundai Elantra, up 34% in September, up 16% in Q3; Sonata, down 16% in September, down 40% in Q3; Palisade, down 15% in September, down 5% in Q3; Santa Cruz, up 75% in September, up 187% in Q3; Santa Fe, up 40% in September, up 6.4% in Q3; Tucson, up 31% in September, up 28% in Q3.

Incentives: $431 in September, down 69% from a year earlier, and $444 in Q3, down 72% year-over-year, according to TrueCar.

Average transaction price: $36,907 in September, up 4.2% year-over-year; $36,613 in Q3, up 6.2% year-over-year, TrueCar said.

Fleet mix: September marked the ninth consecutive month Hyundai has put fleet sales on hold.

Inventory: 24,919 units late last month, up from 19,209 as August closed, but down slightly from 26,717 at the end of September 2021.

Quote: "We've been blessed with better inventory management coming out of Korea, as well as our plant in Alabama. Our company has done a really good job of keeping the pipeline moving right along." – Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America

Did you know? Hurricane Ian caused a slowdown at the end of the month in Florida, part of Hyundai's Southern region, which is one of its largest along with the Eastern region.