1:25 pm, November 23, 2010
HYUNDAI UK has beaten its 2009 scrappage year sales total with six weeks of 2010 still to go!
The manufacturer’s sales rose incredibly last year on the back of the scrappage scheme and its popular i10 city car became the star of the show.
Industry commentators predicted 2010 would be a tough year for the firm, but Hyundai has proved them wrong already. So far this year it has registered 57,058 cars beating last year’s 56,927.
And MD Tony Whitehorn, speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, said there’s still more to come!
‘Whilst 2009 was a great year for Hyundai in the UK, 2010 is even better,’ he said. ‘Scrappage gave the franchise a boost and catapulted it into people’s awareness, while 2010 proved that we are here to stay.
‘With more than six weeks still to go we have already surpassed last year’s record performance of 56,927. We are looking to achieve around 62,000 vehicles this year – an increase of more than seven per cent. That’s amazing considering that last year we enjoyed nine months of scrappage and this year only three months.’
Whitehorn says scrappage is stil the key to the brand’s on going success. He always planned the scheme as a huge marketing drive – putting his cars in front of more people – and it seems to have paid off.
‘Scrappage introduced our cars to a number of customers who previously had not considered them, and they were surprised by the style, quality and equipment levels,’ he explained.
‘They have been our best advocates. The best advert you can ever have is cars on the road, but the very best advert you can have is cars on the road driven by VERY happy owners.’
He added that dealers are earning more than two per cent return on sales which is ‘among the best in the industry’ and he added the brand has ‘people queuing up wanting the franchise’.
