现代汽车雄心不减

    美国经济正在复苏，但格局并不均衡。在此背景下，现代汽车公司（Hyundai Motor Co.）逆势而行，在各大竞争对手纷纷阵地不保、被迫降价时，反而强化了其市场地位。

    现代汽车的成功故事可谓历经数载方成大器。多年来，现代始终默默无闻，消费者要么对它知之不多，要么认为它比本田（Honda）、丰田（Toyota）、福特（Ford）和其他品牌差一个档次。而如今，人们对现代品牌的兴趣高涨。结果，近期现代汽车的销量已超过其生产能力，经销商库存紧张，现车价格坚挺。

    全新设计的2013款圣达菲（Santa Fe）酷越多功能车是在美国投产的新车。现代汽车将它定位为与福特Edge、雪佛兰Equinox和丰田RAV4竞争的车型。在现代看来，这款车的主要优势在于既能提供非凡价值，又经济省油。比如，按照现代自己的计算，搭载排量2.0涡轮增压发动机的圣达菲的零售价为28,525美元，比同级车Equinox便宜120美元，比Edge便宜1,015美元。

    所谓的“运动”版圣达菲在现代起亚汽车（Hyundai's Kia Motors）位于佐治亚州的西点工厂生产，能容纳5名乘客（现代还在阿拉巴马州的蒙哥马利市拥有另一家工厂）。轴距加长版则具有三排座位，将从韩国进口。

    现代汽车的高管称，现代品牌十分强调超值定价、卓越的燃油经济性和出色的设计，产品规划副总裁迈克•欧布瑞恩称，这一思路“在目前众多美国消费者重新考虑购车选择的形势下十分奏效”。据一项品牌研究显示，6月份认可现代品牌的受访者比例上升到了54%，与5年前的30%相比，创下了历史最高水平。

    现代汽车认可度的提高直接反映到了产品售价上，因为消费者相信这一品牌具有更高的价值，所以愿意为选配装备掏钱。据汽车网站Edmunds.com的调查称，2007年现代汽车的平均售价是20,985美元。而今年的平均售价已涨至23,126美元，涨幅高达10.2%。而同一时期全行业的平均售价上涨了7.5%，为每辆车30,326美元。

    与此同时，现代汽车也属于打折最少的厂商之一。据Edmunds.com称，在其跟踪调查的18家厂商中，现代的折扣一直是第二或第三低的，2012年多数时间里单车折扣都不到1,000美元。这使现代的经营状况比宝马汽车（BMW）还好，而后者一直就以无需花大价钱吸引消费者购买其靓车而著称。

    总的来说，在其他重要方面，现代汽车也已在和对手的较量中大为改观。它的市场份额已升至5%，加上其起亚分公司的话，就能达到9%。就7月的数据来看，这已超过了日产汽车（Nissan）的8%，与本田的9.7%也仅有一步之遥。Edmunds.com的资深分析师米歇尔•克瑞布斯称，现代“去年从丰田凯美瑞的召回事件中获得了巨大增长动力，当时他们刚好开始销售索纳塔。而今，丰田已经走出阴影，市场竞争格局已不再受其影响。”

    现代汽车美国分公司总裁约翰•克拉富西克表示，现代的销量将进一步扩大，至于要增建一座工厂、扩大产能则一直都是轻而易举的事。就目前而言，欧洲的需求疲软意味着一些原本可以在当地销出的车现在将运往美国市场了。

    不过现代的高管对过快增长持谨慎态度。毕竟他们亲眼目睹了丰田声誉扫地的历程。为了早日登上全球第一的宝座，丰田这家一直以高品质和关注细节著称的厂商居然不惜抄近路，牺牲品质以求赶超。而现代的高管们只要确信产能扩张不会带来意想不到的麻烦，他们就会建更多工厂，也许在美国也会再建一座。

    译者：清远

    Hyundai Motor Co. is bucking an uneven economic recovery in the U.S., deepening its foothold as rivals lose ground and have been forced to discount their vehicles.

    The Hyundai success story has been years in the making. Interest in the Hyundai brand is peaking after years of obscurity when consumers didn't know it well or regarded it poorly regarded compared to Honda (HMC), Toyota (TM), Ford (F) and others. As a result, sales lately are outstripping Hyundai's ability to build enough cars, keeping dealer inventories tight and transaction prices high and tight.

    Hyundai has positioned its newly designed, U.S.-built 2013 Santa Fe crossover utility vehicle, to compete with models like the Ford Edge, Chevrolet Equinox and Toyota RAV4. The automaker sees the Santa Fe's main advantage as offering superior value and fuel efficiency. By Hyundai's reckoning, for example, the retail price of its $28,525 Santa Fe, with a 2.0-liter turbo engine, is $120 less than the comparable Equinox and $1,015 less than the comparable Edge.

    Built at a factory owned by Hyundai's Kia Motors affiliate in West Point, Georgia, the so-called "sport" version will accommodate up to five passengers. (Hyundai operates a second U.S. plant in Montgomery, Alabama.) A long wheelbase version of Santa Fe, available with a third row of seats, will be imported from South Korea.

    Hyundai executives say the brand's emphasis on value pricing, superior fuel efficiency and design "have worked well at a time when a lot of American buyers are rethinking their choices," in the words of Mike O'Brien, vice president of product planning. One brand study shows that respondents with a positive opinion of Hyundai rose to 54% in June, an all-time high, from 30% five years earlier.

    Higher regard for Hyundai vehicles is reflected in the higher prices paid for its models, as consumers give the brand credit for higher value and are willing to spend more for optional equipment. According to Edmunds.com, an automotive website, the average transaction price paid for a Hyundai model was $20,985 in 2007. This year the average transaction price has grown to $23,126, a whopping increase of 10.2%. The average transaction price for the industry during the same period grew 7.5% to $30,326 per vehicle.

    At the same time, Hyundai has been among those manufacturers that have had to discount their vehicles the least in order to sell them. According to Edmunds.com, Hyundai discounts have been the second or third lowest of the 18 or so tracked by the website, less than $1,000 per car for most of 2012. That puts it in better shape than even BMW, which has typically not had to spend much to entice customers to buy its tony products.

    Overall, the company has improved its position vis-a-vis competitors in other important ways. In terms of market share, it is up to 5%. Together with its Kia affiliate, that gives the Korean manufacturer 9% share -- more than Nissan's 8% and within striking distance of Honda's 9.7% through July. Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst for Edmunds.com, said Hyundai "got a lot of momentum last year from the Toyota Camry recalls just at a time when they were starting to sell their Sonata. Toyota's problems aren't part of the equation anymore."

    John Krafcik, president of Hyundai's U.S. operations, said the automaker could sell more cars and always is toying with the implications of another factory and more capacity. For the time being, weaker demand in Europe has meant that some vehicles that would have been sold in that region now can be shipped to North America instead.

    Hyundai executives are cautious about growing too rapidly. They witnessed the loss of reputation at Toyota when the automaker known for quality and attention to detail cut corners in order to be No. 1 in the world. Hyundai will build more factories, maybe another in the U.S., once executives are convinced expansion won't bring unintended difficulties.