Hyundai's Big Bet Is Paying Off Big Time

Many automakers took a conservative and calculated approach regarding new vehicle inventory just as the coronavirus pandemic struck, but not Hyundai. The South Korean automaker essentially took the opposite approach by making sure its nationwide dealerships had enough inventory on hand. Combined with its 0 percent financing for 84 months offer with deferred payments for up to 120 days last March, buyers responded. But if Hyundai didn't take that inventory chance to begin with, then it couldn't have met demand. And that's where it's succeeding today where some rivals are not.

Automotive News spoke to Hyundai North America vice president of national sales, Randy Parker, about this gutsy decision.

"We elected to be very aggressive upfront to demonstrate leadership, to demonstrate confidence in the company and to provide resources for our dealers to get engaged" he said. "We created this win-win scenario where we provided an upfront stipend to the dealers if they were willing to take cars." The results are now speaking for themselves.

Last month, Hyundai's retail sales were 4.7 percent higher than in May 2019. TheHyundai Tucson, for example, sold 15,552 units last month compared to 15,616 the previous May. Given there was no pandemic at that time,May 2020 was an amazing month. TheHyundai Santa Fealso sold quite well with 9,549 units compared to 13,807 in May 2019. The all-new three-rowHyundai Palisadealso pulled off an impressive month with 7,866 units.