Recently, Hyundai executives have made another harsh remark in public. "Hyundai will always be better than Chinese cars," he said. This is reminiscent of the remarks of previous Kia executives: "We can burn Chinese car companies to death if we burn money."
Both of these car tycoons are unimpressed with the Chinese auto market, which makes us want to ask, which side are you on?Of course, Hyundai's sales and market position should not be underestimated. According to public data, Hyundai Motor Group's global sales in the first half of 2022 reached 32990,000 units, second only to Toyota and Volkswagen, and the global sales ranking rose to the third place.
Korean cars have also been working in overseas markets for many years, starting from a higher starting point and starting earlier, which is one of the reasons why Hyundai executives are dismissive of the Chinese auto market. However, the rise of China's auto market cannot be ignored. For example, the overseas sales of Chery, BYD, Great Wall and other brands have been rising, and BYD's cumulative sales from January to October this year have reached 2.6 million vehicles.
Although there is still a gap compared to Hyundai, Chinese cars are catching up quickly. It is also an indisputable fact that in the most competitive Chinese market, sales of Korean cars are declining. In contrast, domestic car companies are constantly improving the quality and technical level of automobiles, and gradually winning the favor of more consumers.
So, in this war of words of the car tycoons, we don't need to take sides. Importantly, China's automotive market is growing and brand competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Only by continuously improving their own strength and technical level can they occupy a place in this competition. In the automotive market, Chinese brands of new energy vehicle products are rising rapidly.
At the same time, the performance of Korean cars in the Chinese market is getting worse and worse, and their market share has fallen by nearly 90%. The sales of Korean cars in the Chinese market continued to decline, mainly because Korean car companies did not pay attention to the development of the Chinese market, did not introduce new models, but only used the old models, reduced prices, and have been "exchanging price for volume" for a long time, resulting in Korean cars increasingly unable to keep up with the pace of the market.
In contrast, Chinese brands' new energy vehicle products have surpassed Korean cars to become the most competitive products in the market. Korean car companies have tried to save themselves many times, but it seems that they have not yet seen results. Although the global sales of Korean cars are high, can their arrogant attitude be maintained for a long time?