2014 car sales: Hyundai misses podium by only 693 cars

HYUNDAI finished the 2014 sales race strongly to bite at the heels of third-placed Mazda, going to the wire only 693 cars behind the Japanese car maker.

The roaring finish saw the South Korean maker land its best sales result in Australia.

Its 100,011 result means it was one of only four brands to sell more than 100,000 cars here, joining Toyota (203,501), Holden (106,092) and Mazda (100,704).

It was one of only two brands in the top ten to post sales growth in 2014, with sales up 3.1 percent. The second was ninth-placed Subaru, which grew 0.8 percent.

“We’re doing very well with i30 and ix35,” Hyundai Australia spokesperson Bill Thomas told Wheels.

The i30 small car is the brand’s bestseller and the ix35 – which is due for replacement in 2015 – is the brand’s next-best performer, with sales bolstered in 2014 by the decision to improve supply by sourcing the SUV not just from Korea, but also from the Czech Republic.

“The decision to source the ix35 from Europe basically doubled our sales overnight,” Thomas said.

Hyundai’s light-car offering, the Accent, the largest car in its segment, also posted strong growth (up 27 percent) while the brand’s commercial vehicles also strengthened. “We can’t get enough of iLoad,” Thomas told Wheels.

This year looks even more ominous for Hyundai’s rivals, with the i30 due to be updated, joining a new ix35 and new Sonata (to replace i45), as well as refreshed Veloster, i40 and Accent models.