Hyundai Motor Group

 Hyundai Motor Group
Abstract
After getting into the U.S. market, Hyundai Motor Group has transformed from a car manufacturer that was renowned for low quality cars and low prices, to a key auto manufacturer with a significant market share. In fact, the company has been able to draw the attention of many customers from well-established industry players, and even penetrate the luxury segment of the auto industry.  The global operations of the company have also been successful even with the adverse effects of the global financial crisis that drove many automobile manufacturers in the United States and Europe into bankruptcy and bailout. This paper seeks to investigate the factors that have contributed towards the success of  Hyundai Motor Group in its global operations. This paper will assess the key areas of international operations in the Hyundai Motor Group, including the number of international markets that the company currently serves, revenues from each international subsidiary, as well as the challenges of managing the diverse markets. Furthermore, a SWOT analysis will be conducted to evaluate the overall conditions that the company faces so as to recommend the best way forward for the Hyundai Motor Group if it plans on continuing with its international operations.

Introduction
There are varied interesting aspects about Hyundai Motor Group which has made it the prime choice for this paper’s analysis. One of the most distinct characteristics of the company is its resilience and strong sales, especially within the U.S. market despite the global financial crisis that began in late 2007. Even Hyundai Motor Group experienced a drop in its sales in 2008, it immediately began to pick up and began to recover by 2009, which was a whole year before the rest of the auto industry. As of 2010, the company sales had surpassed its pre-recession rates. This success was not just limited to the U.S. market, because in the second quarter of the 2011 financial year, Hyundai Motor Group registered a 3.7% increase in the profits from its global sales (BLS, 2011).

The second interesting aspect concerning the Hyundai Motor Group is its second mover position despite the competitive global business environment that has so many companies that are fiercely competing to be successful. Every company can design different strategic decisions and techniques of maneuvering turbulent times with the aim of gaining a competitive edge within their market segmen   bvct and also capturing a larger clientele and substantial market share. Strategies are usually designed using different criteria including the time that the firm chooses to enter into the market when compared to its competitors. Companies that enter the markets first are usually called the first movers and these firms tend to benefit from the first mover advantage, which simply implies that they will gain the biggest market share since their products and services are new and by the time other companies enter the market, the first movers will already have established a niche for themselves.

Nevertheless,even though there are many benefits for first movers, second movers still have the opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the market and even surpass those other players ho came in first. In fact, second movers can outperform the first movers by positioning and marketing their products or services effectively and this is evident from the case of the Hyundai Motor Group. An assessment the techniques used by Hyundai Motor Group to succeed and grow in the auto industry as a second mover is important because it can help other second movers to become better equipped and exploit their chances of success in the global competitive environment.

Company Background
Hyundai Motor Group is ranked fifth amongst the largest automakers in the world based on the number of vehicles it sold. In 2011, a total of 4.05 million vehicles were sold by Hyundai Motor Group across the world. In Asia, Hyundai Motor Group was ranked second among the Big Asian Four automobile manufacturers and was only behind Toyota, with the other members of this group being Nissan and Honda. The company was conceived in 1967 by Chung Ju-Yung, in South Korea and its main headquarters are in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai is renowned for operating the largest integrated automobile manufacturing plants in the world, which can be found in Ulsan, South Korea (Hyundai, 2014).  Every year, this facility produces 1.5 million cars, implying that company produces a car in every 20 seconds. The company`s logo is usually a symbol of the letter ‘H’ and it is said to signify the shaking of hands between two parties- the customer and the company. Hyundai in the Korean language can be translated to mean modernity. The vehicles of the company are sold in approximately 193 countries and employs an estimated 75,000 people across the globe (Hyundai, 2014). As a public company, Hyundai Motor has been listed in the Korean Stock Excha