It’s possibly the friendliest rivalry in the Australian new car market – a far cry from the Holden and Ford battles of old – but it’s one we’re seemingly gripped by nonetheless: Hyundai vs Kia.
The reason for the rivalry’s friendliness of course comes down to the fact that both are different arms of the same company, Hyundai Motor Company, alongside smaller luxury brand Genesis, but that doesn’t stop the two from directly competing in many of the segments drawing cash from Australian buyers.
While Hyundai was long the higher volume brand of the two, last year Kia overtook its sibling to take the fourth place in the new car market last year behind Toyota, Mazda, and Mitsubishi. Now, Mitsubishi’s sales have slumped and the HMC brands are in the running for the bronze medal.
At the end of 2022, Kia had sold 78,330 new vehicles while Hyundai was about 5000 behind with 73,345.
At the halfway point of this year, Kia is ahead still, but only by 1453 units with 39,160 cars sold over Hyundai’s 37,707.
By this time last year, that gap was just 1252 cars, and with similar sales to date for H1 2022 from each brand – 38,167 from Hyundai and 39,419 by Kia.
While they were further down the overall sales ladder, they actually had a larger portion of the new car market pie in 2022 compared to this year, affected by more high-volume players from China, as well as Tesla, which is having a huge impact on even the seemingly untouchable Toyota’s market share.
This time last year, Hyundai had about 7.1 per cent of the market to its name, while Kia 7.3 per cent. This year, it’s 6.5 per cent and 6.7 per cent, with the gap between the brands remaining eerily similar.
In each stable, there have been a strangely equalising few shifts between model sales – for example, the Kia Cerato is down 62.8 per cent on sales compared to last year, but the Carnival is up 48.9 per cent. Stonic down, Sorento up, and so on.
At Hyundai, there are fewer big shifts save for where models have been entirely dropped or introduced, but the Kona being down 2521 units while the Tucson is up 3394 are the biggest changes numerically.
Overall, Kia is down 0.7 per cent year-on-year for H1, while Hyundai’s down 1.2 per cent. It’s proper neck-and-neck stuff, where one good or bad month could change the landscape.
But the competition between the two arms of Hyundai Motor Company isn’t particularly heated – at least outwardly – according to Kia’s Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, as of December 2022.
“We take pride in a lot of the things that we’ve done, but whether we finish ahead of Hyundai or Mitsubishi doesn’t matter. You can only beat your chest for five minutes after that occurs, anyway,” Meredith told CarsGuide.
Hyundai, on the other hand, had high, high hopes for 2022, expecting to end up on the podium rather than in fifth place.
“Based on the way October closed and how far we’re away and seeing what we can deliver, I think we’re accepting,” Hyundai Australia Chief Operating Officer John Kett Told us in December.
“We might be able to battle [for] fourth, but I’m not sure we’ve got the cars to get to third.”
If things keep going the way they have been, there might be five or so minutes of chest beating at Kia Australia come January 2024.
Keyword: Bronze broil: Hyundai and Kia tussle for third place in Australia's new car market as Mistubisi loses foothold