Another tough month due to fleet reduction while consumers gain transparency during purchase experience. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Oct. 3, 2017 2018 Hyundai Elantra Value Edition - $20,860 incl. mats and $885 D&H Charge offers owners a 28/37 mpg city/highway rating. It offers unprecedented value when shopped properly and taking advantage of all the primary and secondary incentives available today. Braman Hyundai in Miami, FL and the Shoppers Assurance Page - 2018 Hyundai Elantra Value Edition Available incentives include $2,500 off on all 2018 Elantra's, $250 Finance offer on the Value Edition trim, $500 BoostUp Down Payment Match, $1,000 for Mobility - Handicap extras, $1,000 for registered UBER Drivers, $750 for Florida and Texas Hurricane Disaster Relief victims, $500 for Military, and $500 for recent college grads. We have covered the recently announced Shoppers Assurance Pilot that will be rolling out nationwide before too long in the recently announced New Hyundai Assurance Program story. Hyundai’s Shopper Assurance program is intended to streamline and modernizes the car-buying experience with online activations including credit approval and trade-in values prior to walking into your local dealership. Speaking with Principals at the event, they hope to see the car buying experience fall from an average of 4-hours to as little as two from walking through the door to driving off the lot in a new Hyundai. 2017 Hyundai Shoppers Assurance Introduction Well attended presentation by media and Hyundai employees at the U.S. Hyundai HQ in Fountain Valley, CA. First is the Transparent Pricing in which a dealership posts their fair market pricing (MSRP minus incentives and any dealer offered discounts) on the dealer website so the customer knows exactly what the price is for the vehicle they have in mind. While said to reduce time to negotiate to an amicable price, it has its drawbacks. Meaning it could come down to a one-price purchase similar to what other automakers – anyone remember Saturn? - have tried and failed to do in the past. While the dealerships are still going to have autonomy to advertised specials beyond the Shoppes Assurance format, how long that will occur is in question in my eyes. I like the current nationwide format of choosing a vehicle that is in stock on a given Hyundai dealers lot since is essentially the same at many California Hyundai dealers as it is in Michigan, New Mexico or Florida dealerships. Providing an even cleaner and faster look up with actual pricing instead of a Call us or click on this link and find out what our price is a very positive move imho. A case study however is a local Hyundai dealership whose specials are clearly marked and have been for years. It is the same dealership where we purchased our own Hyundai at and their upfront pricing model was one of the reasons for it. 2018 Hyundai Elantra SEL for $14,488 + TTL $2,547 dealer disc., $2,500 Hyundai Incentive, and $500 Hyundai Finance Incentive. Fortunately the Shopper Assurance model will move consumer transparency in this direction but not entirely to it. That is if the dealerships are allowed to advertise their lowest price and not a “market price” that the region or Dealership Group(s) decide is a “fair market value” for the consumer. Of the two models, where do you think I could pick up the better deal from? Dealer A through the Shopper Assurance "Market Value" page sample or Dealership B and their October Specials page? See where this could go awry? When I see fair market pricing, my hair stands on end given how this can turn into a wholly controlled marketplace to the benefit of a regional group of dealerships or dealership group vs. the consumer or even the manufacturer itself. On the plus side, the middle men of the automotive marketplace, Costco, Cars, Edmunds, KBB, and TrueCar, may have a harder time taking their $250 to $500 bite out of the consumers purchase price or the dealerships profit once the new Hyundai Shopper Assurance system is enacted. As a recent automobile purchaser, I found the middle men advice schemes to help the consumer get into their next new car marked up the vehicle I was looking for between $350 and $1,200 over the price I picked up our own 17 Sonata Hybrid Limited for. Consumers, take that as a warning. These companies are providing reviews, apps, and sports advertisements paid for by the portion they can extract from you or the dealership during the new car buying process. It is a business model and in my case, would have cost me hundreds to over a thousand $s more than I purchased outright on my own. Hyundai Shoppers Assurance Boiled down to its simplest terms as paragraphs on a page. The above infographic is hyperlinked. All in, if the new car pricing is competitive and easily looked up similar to the October Savings page of the local Hyundai dealership posted above, Shopper Assurance could be a boon to bring the consumer actual transparent pricing. The middle men will have to work a lot higher to convince you to give them $250 to $500 of your $s over and above the Shopper Assurance pricing which in most cases would be and should be NO! I will be watching this space closely over the next year as the Shopper Assurance program rolls out nationwide in order to judge which way the pendulum swings. Either for the consumer or for the dealerships. The middlemen drag will have to fend for themselves while trying to convince you to purchase for more $s while using their resources. The “Flexible Test Drive” portion of the program is a solid addition imho. You can test-drive your choice of vehicle from your home. their office or your work if you want. The Streamlined Purchase may reduce all of the wasted time sitting at the desk while the sales person plays his game, the GM plays his, the Finance guy plays his, thanks to the online portion of this mess to be conducted form behind your PC or laptop at home. Think of it like tagging your own bags at the airport – ala Southwest – to reduce time for the staff behind the counter to do that and more. It reduces time and also overhead of the dealership as they may be able to get by with fewer employees to move the same number of cars. Remember that 4-hour to 2-hour purchase target? The efficiency which boils down to lower cost vehicles for us and/or higher dealership profit. There will be a cost to industry employment and there is little we can do about it. The “Three-Day Money Back Guarantee” is another plus imho. Some of this consumer protection is already covered by state franchise laws but under Shoppers Assurance, any new owner not satisfied with their purchase is given a three-day buy back period to return the car for a full refund, contingent upon a dealer inspection and the vehicle having fewer than 300 miles since the purchase/lease date. This turns potential second thoughts into peace of mind. Hyundai and its dealers are stepping out on a limb. Fortunately, most customers are enamored with their new car purchase and rarely if ever is there even a though of return. We all purchased the best car for the $ no matter if that is reality or not, right? If something were to come up however and you met the terms of the buyback period, this is an excellent consumer protection not offered by other OEMs that I know of. My fingers are crossed that Shoppers Assurance will provide dealerships with the flexibility to set pricing on market reality, not fair market or some other concocted term to increase dealership profits at the consumers expense. I have friends at the middle man programs and I would be a bit nervous about this new program from Hyundai. As they should. Shopper Assurance is available for any new model in the Hyundai lineup and will initially launch in dealerships in four markets: Miami, Orlando, Dallas and Houston. It will go live nationwide by early 2018. Hyundai September 2017 Sales Overview Hyundai sold 57,007 vehicles in September, down 14.4 percent below the 66,610 sold in September of 2016. On a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis, 26 selling days in Sept. of 2017 vs 25 in Sept. of 2016, sales were down 17.7 percent. With fleet reduction targets from 25 to 15 percent nearing completion, the monthly sales declines due to the Elantra and Sonata fleet sales falloff should run its course by early next year at which point, monthly sales should stabilize and begin an upward trajectory. The rising sales forecast has to do with the upcoming Kona, Genesis G70, and Santa Cruz expected to add to the brands sales totals as the current and all-new 2018 MY vehicles are released to the public. YTD sales of 511,740 were down 12.2 percent below the 587,688 sold through the same period of 2016. On a DSR basis, one more selling day in 2017 compared to 2016, YTD sales were down 13.3 percent. Best All-Time Tucson and CUV September Sales with both Tucson and Santa Fe up compared with a year ago and Tucson achieving a record September, up 38 percent year-over-year. The overall monthly sales decline continues to be attributed to a reduction in fleet sales that were down 37 percent from a year ago. 2017 Hyundai Tucson September 2017 Top 10 Items of Note: RAM Pickups moved back ahead of the RAV4 and the Rogue is picking off where it left off a few months before with a strong September showing. The Corolla which fell out of the Top 10 last month moved back into the 8th spot in September while the Equinox fell from the Top 10 last month. U.S. Automobile Sept. 2017 vs. Sept. 2016 Market Share results September 2017 Market Share items of note: GM and Toyota gained 0.9 and 1.1 percent respectively which appears to have come from FCA which fell a steep 2.0 percent. Hyundai was down 1.1 percent due to the previously discussed fleet sales reductions. The outlier although by an almost insignificant amount at negative .2 percent was Subaru. All vs. August of 2016. September 2017 B and C-Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings B and C-Segment sales items of note: The B-segment sales champ Nissan Versa continues to be unchallenged. Just as the all-new 2018 Hyundai Accent is being readied for public purchase, incentive to move the outgoing model appears to have kicked into high gear a that model went from 6th, to 5th, to 2nd over the last three months. Within the C-segment, the Civic continues to dominate. Elantra is off significantly for reasons mentioned previously while the VW Jetta is making a comeback moving up a spot in each of the last three months. The biggest news is that for the first time in forever, the Mazda3 was knocked off the C-Segment Top 10! It was replaced by the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Wow! September 2017 D and Utility Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings D-segment sales items of note: The all-new 8th gen Toyota Camry continues to sit on top of the D-segment sales charts. The all-new 2018 Accord will reach showrooms soon which should show if the Accord has what it takes. The aging Altima continues to experience significant sales declines. Besides the intense competition from both the new Camry and Accord, I suspect Nissan like the rest of the majors are pulling back on fleet sales to pull up residuals. Hyundai's refreshed Sonata fell behind the Kia Optima. I was not expecting that despite the Optima being a great looking midsize that does not garner the respect it deserves. Utility sales items of note: The Toyota RAV4 like the Camry owns this segment while Rogue achieved enough momentum to push the CR-V back into 3rd. September 2017 Pickup Segment Top 10 Sales and Rankings Pickup sales items of note: The F-series achieved > 80,000 vehicles sold for the second time this year. GM’s overall truck sales (Silverado, Sierra, Colorado, and Canyon) outsold Ford by 5,233 vehicles. Although Titan sales continue to hold onto the 9th spot, the September and YTD volumes compared to 2016 are up significantly. September 2017 Electrified Segments Top 10 Sales and Rankings Electrified sales items of note: The September surprise standout is the Fusion Hybrid outselling both the Toyota Prius and the hot Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. The Prius has never been in the third spot in the hybrid segment. Ever! The Kia Niro continues to hold onto its 2,500+ vehicle sales per month while the Accord Hybrid is closing in. The largest percentage increase was the Highlander Hybrid while the all-new Camry Hybrid moved ahead of it taking the 6th spot. On the plug-in front, the Sonata PHEV inched into the Top 10 while the Audi e-tron fell off. U.S. Sept. 2017 Sales vs. Sept. 2016 Sales Ranks and Results for the top 18 Automobile Manufacturers GM U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 11.9% with 279,397 Vehicles Sold Toyota U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 14.9% with 226,632 Vehicles Sold Ford U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 8.7% with 222,248 Vehicles Sold FCA U.S. September 2017 Sales Down 9.7% with 174,266 Vehicles Sold Honda U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 6.8% with 142,722 Vehicles Sold Nissan U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 9.5% with 139,932 Vehicles Sold Hyundai U.S. September 2017 Sales Down 15.5% with 55,271 Vehicles Sold Subaru U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 0.4% with 55,120 Vehicles Sold Kia U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 6.6% with 52,468 Vehicles Sold Mercedes-Benz U.S. September 2017 Sales Down 2.2% with 32,337 Vehicles Sold VW U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 33.2% with 32,112 Vehicles Sold BMW U.S. September 2017 Sales Down 0.4% with 29,307 Vehicles Sold Mazda U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 3.4% with 25,738 Vehicles Sold Audi U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 9.6% with 19,308 Vehicles Sold Jaguar/Land Rover U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 16.9% with 9,703 Vehicles Sold Mitsubishi U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 17.2% with 8,430 Vehicles Sold Volvo U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 40.7% with 7,990 Vehicles Sold Porsche U.S. September 2017 Sales Up 12.9% with 5,059 Vehicles Sold Sept. U.S Auto Manufacturers Sales Items of Note: Subaru fell behind Hyundai despite a positive sales month. The AWD brand is closing in on the first monthly decline in years and I am hearing on the radio $5k off on some models in San Diego to help October sales going forward. Mercedes-Benz edged out VW which in turn moved ahead of BMW for 10th, 11th, and 12th spot respectively. 2017 vs 2016 U.S. Monthly Auto Industry Sales Totals January 2017 (+.01 million): 1.14 million vs 1.13 million sold in January of 2016 February 2017 (-.01 million): 1.32 million vs 1.33 million sold in February of 2016 March 2017 (-.05 million): 1.54 million vs 1.59 million sold in March of 2016 April 2017 (-.06 million): 1.44 million vs. 1.50 million sold in April of 2016 May 2017 (+.06 million): 1.52 million vs. 1.46 million sold in May of 2016 June 2017 (-.05 million): 1.46 million vs. 1.51 million sold in June of 2016 July 2017 (-.11 million): 1.41 million vs. 1.52 million sold in July of 2016 August 2017 (-.03 million): 1.48 million vs 1.51 million sold in August of 2016 September 2017 (+.09 million): 1.52 million vs 1.43 million sold in September of 2016 September 2017 U.S. Automotive industry sales of 1.52 million was up 6.3 percent vs. the 1.43 million sold in September of 2016. On a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis, September sales was up 2.2 percent given there were 26 selling days in September of 2017 vs. 25 in September of 2016. A pretty good showing and positive sign as the previous three months of declines has been broken. Vehicle replacements to cover Hurricane Harvey and Irma’s devastation should help sales going forward. September 2017 sales YTD of 12.84 million vehicles was down 1.6 percent from the 13.05 million sold through the same period of 2016. There were 230 selling days in 2017 and 229 selling days in 2016 leading to a 2.0 percent fall off on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis. September 2017 automotive industry seasonally annual adjusted rate (SAAR) exceeded 18 million on volume of 1.52 million vehicles. Annual SAAR continues to point towards 17 million vehicles, possibly making 2017 the third consecutive year in which the industry will reach that milestone.
Hyundai Canada September 2017 Sales Up 2.6% with 11,961 vehicles Sold Like the U.S., Tucson was the highlight in Canada. Hyundai Canada achieved September 2017 sales of 11,961 vehicles sold, up 2.6 percent over the 11,662 sold in September of 2016. YTD sales of 103,232 vehicles were down 8.1 percent when compared to the 112,292 sold through the same period of 2016. Hyundai Canada September Sales Highlights The 2017 Tucson achieved record September sales of 3,206 vehicles, up 75.2 percent over the 1,830 sold in September of 2016. Canada September 2017 Ranks and Results for the top 7 Automobile Manufacturers Ford Canada September 2017 Sales Up 2.4% with 30,899 Vehicles Sold GM Canada September 2017 Sales Up 7.0% with 27,237 Vehicles Sold Toyota Canada September 2017 Sales Up 14.5% with 22,018 Vehicles Sold FCA Canada September 2017 Sales Down 6.1% with 18,444 Vehicles Sold Honda Canada September 2017 Sales up 3.3% with 18,181 Vehicles Sold Nissan Canada September 2017 Sales Up 14.3% with 13,437 Vehicles Sold Hyundai Canada September 2017 Sales Up 2.6% with 11,961 vehicles Sold Canadian sales items of note: Honda Canada is quickly closing in on FCA Canada sales.
Hyundai Global September 2017 Sales of 400,995 Vehicles Up 3.5% Hyundai’s overseas sales of 341,281 was down 1.3 percent below those sold in September of 2016. The decrease was mainly due to ongoing weak sales pace in the Chinese market. South Korean sales of 59,714 vehicles was up 43.7 percent compared to September of 2016. The uptick was said to be due to the timing difference of the Korean Chuseok holiday (which fell in September last year compared to October this year) and labor issues in Korea. Hyundai plans to overcome sluggish global demands and rising uncertainties in both emerging and developed markets, by strengthening its product line-up through the roll out of various new products in the coming months while increasing SUV supply to meet increasing market demand.
