April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Auto parts affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group suffered sales declines last year due mainly to their heavy reliance on Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, an auto association said on Aug. 1.

Hyundai Motor Group’s parts affiliates such as Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai-Wia didn’t advance or fell in a global top 100 auto parts makers’ ranking for 2017, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said, citing data from Automotive News.

Hyundai Mobis ranked seventh in the rankings last year, little changed from a year earlier. Hyundai-Wia fell to 38th from 34th in the standings, with Hyundai Powertech moving down from 49th to 57th and Hyundai Dymos settling from 57th place to 59th, the automobile association said.

“They did not do well in the rankings as their captive buyers Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted weak sales results in major markets such as the United States and China last year,” a KAMA official said.

The two carmakers’ belated response to growing market demand for sport utility vehicles weighed on sales in the United States. A diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system in Korea drove down sales in China last year.

In an effort to be less reliant on Hyundai and Kia, Hyundai parts affiliates said they will increase sales to non-Hyundai clients and allocate more resources to research and development activities.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)