Hyundai-Kia passes Ford as world's 4th largest automaker

Kia VG Sedan Rendering

By Thami Masemola
August 19, 2009 4:41 PM
Filed Under: Asian, Ford, Hyundai, Industry

A decade ago no one, certainly not anyone outside of Hyundai, would have dreamt that the South Korean car manufacturer would one day sell more vehicles than Ford. Well it has happened. Hyundai-Kia is now the fourth largest automaker in the world in sales after Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen respectively.

This is a one-step-up-shift from the company's fifth position in 2008. The numbers come from the Automotive News Data Centre which states that during the first half of 2009 Hyundai-Kia sold 2,153,000 vehicles compared to Ford's 2,145,000. It is a rise of about 30% over the US brand. Hyundai-Kia's biggest single market is the US. The top ten companies have all lost sales so far this year, most by two-digit percentages. Volkswagen was the only one to lose by single digits as it shed 5.1% sales over H1 2008. The biggest losers were Ford and Toyota both of which saw sales decline 30.6% and 26% respectively.

Interestingly the Nissan and Renault alliance reported its numbers separately but had it combined them in the same way as Hyundai and Kia a total of over 2.6 million would appear. Such a figure would be enough to place Nissan-Renault in fourth position.

The top ten for the first half of 2009 looks like this:

Global Sales – first half of 2009
	Manufacturer	H1 2009	H1 2008	% change
1	Toyota	3,564,105	4,815,442	-26.0
2	General Motors	3,552,722	4,541,125	-21.8
3	Volkswagen	3,100,300	3,265,200	-5.1
4	Hyundai-Kia	2,153,000	-
5	Ford	2,145,000	3,093,000	-30.6
6	PSA Peugeot-Citroen	1,586,900	1,844,700	-14.0
7	Honda	1,586,000	2,022,000	-21.6
8	Nissan	1,545,976	2,013,611	-23.2
9	Suzuki	1,152,000	1,283,000	-10.2
10	Renault	1,106,989	1,326,164	-16.5

Sources: Automotive News' 2008 Global Data Book (Automotive News Data Center), Reuters (Hyundai-Kia)

Source: Kia via autoblog.com

Press Release (Click to expand)

KOREANS DRIVE FORD OUT OF FOURTH PLACE IN GLOBAL MANUFACTURER RANKING

Kia Motors (UK) Ltd. is pleased to announce that parent company, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, has become the fourth largest global automotive manufacturer, according to data just published.

Based on figures from the Automotive News Data Centre, the Korean manufacturer has overtaken Ford which saw it's sales fall by more than 30 per cent in the first half of 2009, selling 8,000 more vehicles than the US giant in the first half of 2009.

Results for all of last year saw Hyundai-Kia trail Ford by around 1,000,000-units, but by reducing the impact of the global recession by producing the right product for the right times, the group has managed to take fourth place much quicker than had been predicted.

Go back just 10 years and the newly unified company was in 11th place overall, but rapid globalisation has seen state of the art factories being built in several countries including Slovakia, the United States and China. The manufacturing facilities have been geared-up to build products that are designed and engineered for local markets. The Kia cee'd is a leading example, being designed, developed and engineered in Germany and built in Slovakia.

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Tags: Hyundai-Kia, largest automaker

Comments

nederina

August 19, 2009 5:14 PM

oh look mister clarkson.. i don't see any british car companies on the list

carcrazy1234

August 19, 2009 8:13 PM

yea cuz there aren't any high production, cheaply built british cars available haha. all the british cars either exhibit class, luxury, or both. where as none of these companies above can compare to. i hate ur arrogance.

porschekrazii

August 20, 2009 12:10 AM

hahahahahaa right on carcrazy!

AG4

August 20, 2009 2:11 AM

@carcrazy1234,

Aside from Morgan and Bristol what other existing British car brand is actually still British-owned?

sj0808

August 19, 2009 5:21 PM

sweet. they deserve it.

James2911

August 19, 2009 5:28 PM

Aren't Renault & Nissan technically the one company? And how did PSA do so well?

sovietmole

August 19, 2009 6:25 PM

this report seems biased.. what about the makers under ford since KIA is with hyundai..

2010S5

August 19, 2009 6:40 PM

I think it takes into account the sub-brands as well.

BENZian

August 19, 2009 6:46 PM

I think it shows that Ford has a good advertising firm. I keep seeing the CEO and everyone screaming that Ford is surging...increasing production...meanwhile the truth is they have lost more market share than anyone...even their archenemy GM and now Ford is behind Hyundai in global sales...I would definitely buy a Genesis or Equus before I bought a Ford product.

Renegade

August 19, 2009 7:18 PM

Ford is reinventing itself along with GM and Chrysler, it needs time to regain market share, and yeah Ford increased production for the Focus to meet the demand of cash and clunkers, however when the Fiesta and the next Focus will arrive, Ford sales will get a boost. And you must be nuts because, Fusion is better then the Sonata, Taurus is better then the Genesis, Mustang is better then Genesis Coupe and the Equus is a joke of a luxury car. Most Fords are better then most Hyundais.

CndSalesPro

August 19, 2009 7:19 PM

I have to agree, I would rather be seen in a Hyundai/Kia product then a Ford. I REALLY don't like either, but at least a Kia or Hyundia makes it seem like you got a deal. Not just a BAD car without a deal (ie a Ford)

car-o-bar

August 19, 2009 7:36 PM

Wait 5 more years and a Chinese company would break in the top 10, and in ten years may be an Indian company, most likely TATA.

scratchy996

August 19, 2009 10:15 PM

word.

carcrazy1234

August 19, 2009 8:14 PM

hyundai and kia both are making wicked looking cars.. hyundai especially... equos, genesis, genesis coupe for example. wonderful

rcw

August 19, 2009 8:19 PM

Wow! Amazing! Who would have ever thought. These cars aren't quite on my shopping list yet, but, I have to seriously admit that they have come so far. They are a 500% improvement from the first models that I remember. Cheers to Hyundai's ambition!

9TNine

August 19, 2009 10:13 PM

Yeah, I've bought quite a few Korean stuff recently... mainly Samsung. Used to buy Sony (which seems to have fallen off the map).

Think Korean Cars are doing well; IMO much better than the Japanese cars did in the same stage of development when those Japanese cars first were marketed over here!

Siawa

August 20, 2009 7:20 PM

Hyundai has definitely kicked it up a notch. I am surprised Honda is so low down the list though.

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