Boss to Drive Corporate Sales in Europe

OFFENBACH, GERMANY – October 7, 2009: Hyundai is looking to achieve significant rates of growth in its European fleet sales into 2010, aided by the appointment of new Deputy General Manager Fleet and Remarketing, Oliver Lajara. Leading the fleet team at Hyundai’s European headquarters in Offenbach, Germany, Lajara will put in place new people and processes at a country- and dealer-level to target European fleets.

Lajara joins Hyundai from automotive intelligence provider EurotaxSchwacke, where he held the post of Head of Field Sales and developed a valuable understanding of how companies manage used car residual values. He has also held managerial posts at Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Sixt AG.

Hyundai has increased its fleet revenues over recent years and is confident that remodelling its fleet operation will support a strategic plan to further increase market share in Europe.

“In 2008, our non-private Hyundai sales increased by 33% over the previous year, with almost 95,000 cars sold to fleets,” comments Allan Rushforth, Vice President of Hyundai Motor Europe. “However, there remains significant room for us to increase our fleet-related revenues. For example, in the largest five European markets our C-segment sales to rental firms are less than 10%, some way behind the sector average of 13%.

“Oliver will lead a team that will ensure we are better placed to harness all aspects of the fleet opportunity, while managing volumes to optimize our hard-won gains in terms of residual values.”

As part of his new role, Lajara will lead new strategic alliances with leading European rental firms, with the aim of bringing the company’s short-cycle business in line with industry averages.

“Hyundai’s ambition to grow its share of the fleet market is supported by a strong product line-up developed specifically for European customers,” adds Lajara. “The current i-range cars – the A-segment i10, B-segment i20 and C-segment i30 – meet the requirements of fleets looking for exceptional fuel economy figures and low CO2 emissions.

“These vehicles have also received positive appraisals from residual value experts. For example, EurotaxGlass’s has just confirmed that the Hyundai i30 will exceed the residual value average in the C-segment after three years and 30,000 km. Soon we will launch a number of important new products – including larger models and niche vehicles – that will further increase the appeal of the Hyundai brand amongst fleet buyers,” Lajara concludes