Hyundai Motor lays out US recovery plan

SEOUL, July 22 (Reuters): South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co laid out its US sales turnaround plan on Monday with an expanded line-up of sport-utility vehicles (SUV), after posting its biggest quarterly profit jump in seven years.
The automaker forecast its US market share to begin rising again from this year, targeting a year-end share of 4.2 per cent versus 3.9 per cent last year, with sales of its upgraded Palisade SUV starting from the second half. It aims for a US share of 5.2 per cent by 2023.
Solid performance at home and in the United States in the three months through June helped offset a sales slump in China, where a slowing economy, trade war with the United States and a lack of competitive models prompted the automaker to suspend production at its oldest factory earlier this year.
To maintain momentum in the United States - its biggest overseas market - Hyundai said it plans to boost the proportion of SUVs in its US line-up to 67 per cent in 2023 from 51 per cent in 2019, as it works to catch up with a shift in consumer preference.
"It was a surprise when Hyundai revealed an aggressive US turnaround plan, but I don't see any problem in it meeting its annual sales target there," said analyst Kim Joon-sung at Meritz Securities.