Fleet Sales Boost Hyundai, Kia in U.S.

Washington DC April 13, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that Hyundai and Kia were among the few brands that eked out small U.S. sales increases in the first quarter, but they did it in large part by ramping up deliveries to rental fleets.

According to Automotive News, the Korean sister brands have boosted U.S. market share in 2009 by maintaining last year's sales. Hyundai's share climbed to 4.3 percent in the first quarter from 2.7 percent in the same period last year, which it partly attributes to its Hyundai Assurance program, which allows buyers who have lost their jobs to return cars within a year of purchase. Kia went from 1.9 percent to 3.1 percent.

But fleet has been a huge factor as the two sister brands are helping to fill a void the rental fleet that was left by the Detroit 3 who have cut production. A third of Hyundai's sales in the first quarter were to rental car companies, and the fleet unit total for the quarter was 32 percent higher than for the same period a year ago.

Industry sources say rental car sales represented 34.9 percent of Kia's total sales of 68,893 in the first quarter. Kia's overall sales were up 1.0 percent. Click here for more on fleet sales.