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Managing to grow while the market declines
"This year we are likely to reach combined registrations of around 5,000 units, which will put us 5.5 per cent ahead of last year," Sam Synnott (Hyundai) told Motors
"Given that the market will be down by between 5 and 6 per cent, we will have grown in a declining market and performed some 10 per cent better than the overall market.
"On balance, we must consider this a good result. However, we were short of some models, earlier in the year, particularly Sonata, Santa Fe, Coupe, and Trajet, for which there was a strong demand. Undoubtedly had this not been the case our growth would have been even stronger.
"Looking forward to 2003, we consider that the Getz, which we have just launched, has tremendous growth potential. The level of specifications is extremely high and gives us a distinct advantage over the competition.
"In terms of dealer network, we have appointed three new dealers this year, while several of our existing dealers are in the process of major expansion.
"The big issue in the coming year, apart from the size of the market, will be block exemption."
© 2002 The Irish Times
