Hyundai / Kia has overtaken Toyota as the largest Asian auto brand in the European market. This should bring a big smile on the faces of the Koreans for whom it’s a bigger motivation than anything to be better than the Japanese. And nothing brings them more pleasure than going one-up on Toyota, the brand that represents the Japanese success story. America’s is next after Europe for the Korean brand, we’d think.
According to data from European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Hyundai / Kia sold 52,369 units against Toyota’s 511,754 units for the first 10 months of 2010. Hyundai has managed to sell well in the European market even during the downturn, and its smaller models such as the ix20, i30 and Kia Cee’d have sold very well.
The company has been doing very well in the US as well, with its sales in the region riding by a very healthy 21 per cent this year. The company is coming out with some really gorgeous looking models this year which has some very good tech under the skin too. Hyundai has never looked so strong thus far, and going by what the Korean carmaker has in its pipeline, we think all the carmakers, and not just Toyota should be worried.