(January 5, 2011) FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. — Hyundai on Tuesday announced December sales of 44,802 units, up 33 percent versus 2009.  For the full year, Hyundai reported 538,228 sales, up 103,164 units from last year for a 24 percent gain and an all-time Hyundai sales and market share record for the year.

December retail sales were up 54 percent from last year due to improving product availability and a popular Hyundai Holiday marketing effort that helped increase traffic to Hyundai.com 120 percent over last year.

Full year retail sales were up 35 percent. Fleet sales mix for the month of December was 7 percent, with fleet mix for the year at 16 percent.

“December was the capstone to a good year for Hyundai, with our total sales results actually understating the more important gains we made at retail, where we added a full point of market share,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America.

Tucson sales increase
348 percent in December

“While we grew total volume 24 percent, retail volume through our 800-strong dealer network climbed 35 percent, or 115,786 units, with 90,349 of that retail gain coming from the game-changing 2011 Sonata.”

“That marks the biggest retail sales increase of any car in the entire industry, and it shows how well consumers have responded to our high-tech 4-cylinder lineup, dynamic new design, and the mid-size segment’s first 5-star 2011 NHTSA crash test result,” Krafcik added.  “Improving Sonata Turbo availability, and the lithium-polymer battery-powered Sonata Hybrid that arrives later this month, should help Sonata find a few more buyers in 2011.”

Elantra, Sonata, and Tucson sales for December increased 127 percent, 52 percent, and 348 percent, respectively.  The all-new 2011 Elantra, which achieves 40 miles per gallon in every variant, not just low-volume, extra-charge “Eco” or “Special Fuel Economy” models, found 4,724 homes in its first full month of availability.  Hyundai has targeted leadership in sales of 40 mile-per-gallon vehicles in 2011, and closes the books in 2010 with 4,916 sales in this category.

Genesis continued its impressive growth with the 18th consecutive month of year-over-year sales increases.  For the year, Genesis sales increased 33 percent, to 29,122. 

“The continued growth in Genesis sales shows how much the Hyundai brand has grown over the last two years,” said John Krafcik.  “Genesis market share has now exceeded our most optimistic early projections, and has set the stage well for continued growth in premium segments.”  Hyundai’s all-new flagship Equus, with higher residual value than Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, and Audi A8, began hitting showrooms in December to high demand and limited availability, resulting in 196 sales. Hyundai targets Equus sales volume of 2,000 to 3,000 in 2011.