The United States is no longer the world’s top car market.

[TJPark01]

DESPITE the bankruptcies, bailouts and plunging sales that quaked the auto industry this year, perhaps nothing sums up the misery better than this: The United States is no longer the world’s top car market.
The New York Times...

HYUNDAI-KIA South Korean’s automotive juggernaut kept rolling through the global economic downturn. Hyundai’s cars — already recession-ready because they are perceived as offering good value — got a big boost in good will from the Hyundai Assurance plan, a marketing masterstroke that let owners return their cars if they lost their jobs. (There were exceptions in the fine print.)
Hyundai raised its American market share above 4 percent this year, from 3 percent in 2008, as sales rose more than 6 percent. The Kia division did better, with sales up nearly 8 percent.
Through it all, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group quietly became the world’s fourth-largest automaker, displacing Ford. The top three are now Toyota, G.M. and Volkswagen.

 

[wallymn]

Hmmm China has 4 times the population... Of course they will pass us.

Have you been to China lately?

My first visit in 2001 Beijing was mostly bikes. When it snowed they didn't plow, people couldn't drive worth a darn....

Last year (during the Games), Beijing was a mess, bumper to bumper everywhere still can't drive worth a damn. Accidents which leave the cars mobile are just ignored...

Think of China like 1950s America. Everyone will be getting the house and car over the next 15 years.... MFG leads their growth just like it did here....

It is an interesting country to do business in, but I don't like it enough to live there...

 

[RogerB]

Since I am not from the US, the fact that it is no longer the top car market has no emotional effect on me. I am perhaps surprised it took this long to happen. In like fashion, the US dollar will cease to be the currency of last resort very soon but that is another discussion.

Here is what I noticed from this article:

"Through it all, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group quietly became the world’s fourth-largest automaker, displacing Ford. The top three are now Toyota, G.M. and Volkswagen."

I decided not to buy yet another Buick because my impression is that GM is a dinosaur waiting for extinction. Hyundai on the other hand, although not having high regard in public perception, is obviously on the way up. When I look around, I see huge numbers of Hyundais on the road. It is surprising really that they don't have a higher profile already

 

[Billymax]

I had a high regard and Loyalty to GM. I had 5 Caddy's 3 DTS and 2 STS. I was so pissed off when they took the dealership away from my long standing dealer and now we don't even have a Caddy dealer in Canton or Massillon, Ohio with a combined population of nearly 180,000 people. I would have had to go to Akron, Ohio to buy and get service 17 miles away. On top of that GM controlled by the goverment and the Union just doesn't sit well with me so they lost a VERY loyal long term customer.

Between my wife and two boys we have or had had a Senada, two Santa Fe's and they have been excellent cats which obviously influenced my interest in the Genesis 4.6.

 

[BocaDave]

That's the problem with democracy and the capitalist system, it doesn't always give you what you want - but it does give you what you're willing to pay for.

It gives you freedom of choice, and the people of the world have freely voted with their dollars... and their dollars are no longer going to traditional American car manufacturers - GM, Ford, Packard, DeSoto, etc.

The mass of humanity chooses based on some combination of availability (can I buy this car in my country?), price, function, perceived quality, appearance, image, yadda, yadda.

We (America) won those battles for a long time, then we started to lose them... and continued in that downwards direction.

We worked hard at sticking our heads in the sand and lost it... in the meanwhile the Koreans, Japanese, etc. looked, planned, acted, followed the Kaizen process of continuous incremental process and product improvements, listened to the customer, designed, redesigned, improved, etc.

Now GM and Ford are again producing competitive cars, but who want's to be the first guy to buy one of them?

Do you think a guy who has been a Toyota loyalist for the past 20 years (good cars, reliable, etc.) will switch back to Ford or GM just because those companies say their products are better?

No way.

In truth, their products are better, but far from best.

No one want's to be first... the guy at the front of the line is the one who takes all the bullets/arrows in the chest. Much better to wait and see if other folks really are finding the American Cars better than they were (they are) and equal to the competition (they aren't, but are slowly closing the gap in some areas).

My take - it's a shame, but the fact of the matter is that Hyundai and Toyota do a much better job of listening to the customer and responding in a prompt and effective manner.

Ford is really trying to do that job today and has made great inroads with its latest lineup, but still has a long way to go - its a tough culture to change overnight, or even over 3-5 years.

GM is talking about change more than they are actually changing - I don't think anything will turn that sinking boat around before she goes under.

I hope I'm wrong, I'd really like to see a resurgence of the American auto industry. Otherwise, we'll have to hope for a 2nd best solution, wherein non-US companies design cars outside the US, but build them in the US, at least for US markets.

I never thought I'd see the day...

 

[RogerB]

BocaDave, I agree with you. The Detroit Three had the North American market sewn up and they took it for granted. They systmatically reduced the quality of big selling models so as to maximize profit (in the short term). They gave in to the aggressive unions. It was always cheaper (in the short term) to give in than to say no, suffer a strike, and lose sales to the other two companies. And they let their workers retire with massive pensions after only 30 years of service. Many workers retired when they were barely in their 50s. Today much of the Detroit Three's outlay is to a huge army of retirees.

I bought five GM cars in a row from the 70s until early in this decade. I stayed loyal because of the fantastic service I got from this one dealer. But this last time, my sense was that GM and Chrysler will go under no matter how much their cars improve in price and quality. I did not want to own an orphan. So I switched and bought what seemed to me to be the best car for the dollar on the market - the Genesis.

 

[BocaDave]

And don't forget about that great Detroit invention "Planned obsolescence."

The idea being that you design a car for a 3 year life and then obsolete it by what looks like a totally different new model.

Build them so they don't last much longer, either.

I kind of like the idea that my wife's 10 year old Infinity looks very similar to today's car, and doesn't shout "old body style, obsolete car."

That's what appeals to me about the Hyundai (and frankly, the Toyota) Family of cars is that they will look contemporary, even 5 -10 years from today - and they are built to run 200,000 miles with normal maintenance should you chose to drive them that long.

I drove my last imported (Japanese) car 150,000 miles in 9 years, replacing brakes at 100K miles, alternator once, battery 2 times (3-4 years per battery), tuned up at 100K miles, and had no other repairs. You can't do that with any GM/Ford/Chrysler product (but Ford is getting MUCH better).

I'm confident that any Hyundai model will make 200K miles over 5-10 years. (One son's Elantra is well on its way there, with 50K miles in 2 years with no repairs; My other son has a Tuscon and Sonata, each pulling 20K to 30K per year, with nary a mechanical problem).

Of course, the Government could force the Koreans and Japanese to make crappy cars for the next few years, while the American mfrs catch up, but the US manufacturers would just use that as an excuse to resume making crappy cars again).