HYUNDAI: Strong retail offset by tight supplies, zero fleet

Hyundai snapped a two-month streak of sales gains to close the first quarter on a down note, with March deliveries off 21 percent and first-quarter sales down 4.5 percent, mostly behind tight supplies and zero fleet shipments. Hyundai's first-quarter drop outpaced a broader industry decline behind continued healthy consumer demand, especially with hybrids, plug-in hybrids, full cell hybrids and full-electric vehicles.

Sales of Hyundai's "green" products now represent about 16 percent of the brand's overall mix, according to Hyundai sales chief Randy Parker.

Hyundai's U.S. sales slid 21 percent to 59,380 in March mostly because of supply constraints caused by the ongoing microchip shortage. Retail sales remain a bright spot. Hyundai posted record quarterly retail deliveries of nearly 159,676, a 1.4 percent increase compared with the same period in 2021, the company said.

Genesis, Hyundai's luxury arm, continues to rack up healthy gains led by the GV70 and GV80 crossovers. First-quarter activity yielded a record 11,723 sales, representing a 43 percent increase. Genesis also had a best-ever March with sales of 4,603, up 53 percent. Genesis' U.S. sales have now risen 16 straight months.

Notable nameplates: Santa Fe, down 10% in first quarter; Sonata, off 62%; Tucson, up 20%; Elantra, down 15%; Kona, down 31%; Palisade, down 0.9%; Venue, up 13%.

Incentives: $1,049 in the first quarter, down 56 percent, according to TrueCar.

Average transaction price: $36,173 in the first quarter, up 18 percent, TrueCar estimates.

Fleet mix: March marked the third consecutive month Hyundai put fleet sales on hold.

Inventory: Hyundai started March with just more than 18,000 cars and light trucks in inventory and sold nearly 60,000. Parker said inventory going into April will stay around 18,000 and he projects to sell between 50,000 and 60,000 vehicles.

Quote: "It's been like this for the past five or six months, where we start out with 18,000 units of dealer inventory and we sell 50,000 to 60,000 units each month. Things have sort of stabilized for us in this new norm. Obviously it's not perfect and we wish our production could keep up with the demand."

Did you know? Hyundai's Nexo is the only fuel cell crossover on the market. Despite very limited infrastructure for hydrogen-powered vehicles, steep gasoline prices are pushing consumers to consider every type of alternative-fuel vehicle.