No Wait Time for Hyundai Cars in as Little as a Month

The car market is still under close scrutiny. In 2023, car makers suggest a gradual recovery from the crisis that began even before the pandemic. The year 2022 was turbulent – the geopolitical tension disrupted logistics chains. As a result, both car makers and car importers had to look for new supply lines. At the same time, dealerships were full of those willing to purchase cars under the concessional car lending program and go-getters who wanted to resell cars to neighboring states. There is a delicate situation with Hyundai as well, various rumors emerge in the media now and again, with a new round coming out after the Kazakhstan distribution management changed. Hyundai Auto Kazakhstan Director Marat Smagulov told what was going on on the car market and inside the company.

– Kazakhstanis were complaining about the deficit of cars in Kazakhstan all last year. What is the situation this year?

– Indeed, 2022 in Kazakhstan was marked by a higher demand for cars. In spite of all challenges, we were able to boost production by 43% at Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan and released 37,205 cars. Of these, 82% for the Kazakh market, and the rest were exported to Uzbekistan.

In 2023, we plan to release 50,000 vehicles by expanding the production area and installing new equipment. Thus, we have to increase supplies of components that we receive from South Korea, Türkiye, Czech Republic, and China. All these will improve the quality of new cars on the market and meet the demand of our customers.

Whilst in 2022, customers had to wait months to purchase cars, now most popular models in the most best-selling configurations are available in dealerships – Elantra, Sonata, Accent, i30, and Bayon, the last year’s new urban subcompact SUV. In one or two months, Tucson and Santa Fe will also be available with no wait time.

The wait time for flagman Palisade and minivan Staria will decrease to 3–4 months, while the same models in top configurations will have to be waited for a little longer. These are the most expensive cars in our lineup worth 28 million tenge and over.

Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan

– Are cars qualifying for concessional car lending available?

– Our cars in the configurations worth below 15 million tenge qualify for the terms of concessional car lending provided by the Industry Development Fund. Today, these are Hyundai Accent, Bayon, Elantra, i30, some configurations of Sonata, and Tucson. In February, we discharged all obligations under bank guarantee letters under the program.

– Information comes out in various mass media from time to time that Astana Motors is going to purchase the Russian Hyundai plant. Reshuffle of the management at your company is also said to be associated with that. What is going on in fact?

– Astana Motors does not have plans for the Russian plant. We are developing production in Kazakhstan and are tasked to increase localization and the number of models manufactured by CKD assembly (welding and painting). Apart from that, this year the company is beginning to construct in the Almaty Industrial Zone a car for the production of Hyundai car components – car seats, polyurethane rugs, wheel arch covers, splashguards, and multimedia systems.

However, we are concerned about the situation with Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus in Saint Petersburg since the plant was a supplier of stamped body panels and some components for Hyundai Accent and Creta cars. We are setting up the supply of components for these models from India. But we would like the Russian plant to continue supplying car components to Kazakhstan. We hope the situation will be resolved soon.

As for the change of management, Denis Kolomatsky decided to leave the company in late February. The company reacted with respect. During his work, Denis Kolomatsky has done very much for the development of the auto business, especially for Hyundai, in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

I have been working for the company since 2012, and before I was appointed as Distribution Director, I had been developing the Astana Motors dealership network, including the Hyundai brand, I know the brand’s specifics and objectives very well.

Marat Smagulov

– What news should we wait from Hyundai in 2023?

– In May, the i20 model will be unveiled in Kazakhstan. It is a hatchback, a well-accepted model in the B-segment. The car will be manufactured at Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan. The price starts from 8.8 million tenge. It is an urban car with a 1.4 l engine with economical fuel consumption.

We are also planning to start the sales of the first Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric car in May. These events will be announced in detail later.

Beyond that, in the third quarter of the year our plant will begin to produce an updated version of Elantra, and in the fourth quarter – of Sonata.

Hyundai IONIQ 5

– What challenges does Hyundai face in Kazakhstan this year?

– First, these are stable supplies of components. Logistics chains are still being optimized. Last year, we were able to set up new lines and find new suppliers, this year this work will go on with account of our plans to increase production.

The supply of microchips has been an urgent issue since 2021. The fire at two major Chinese semiconductor plants has become one of the causes of the global crisis of automotive industry. In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on China’s semiconductor industry. However, modern cars are becoming more and more high-tech and require more and more microchips. This is the cause of delay in supplies of Staria and Palisade in their most expensive configurations.

Hyundai will also expand its dealership network in Kazakhstan. Much effort has been made to engage partners since the last year. We want our business to develop in regions. And this is a great opportunity for regional auto dealers to become partners of such reliable company as ours.

The growth of competition should not be left unmentioned – we are watching with interest new car brands entering the market and their ambitions. These are first of all Chinese car makers that are known for their aggressive marketing. Hybrid and electric cars also grow in popularity. The trade-in market should also be remembered – the sale of used cars is getting to a new level.

All these mean that we and other incumbent companies of the auto business should make more effort to keep our clients and attract new ones. It is great work requiring full engagement and creative approach.

Ultimately, the expansion of competition will affect customers in the most favorable way. It makes it possible to keep prices down and increase the quality of customer service. Thus, we are in for a challenging but exciting auto year.

Source: Kursiv.Media