Hyundai: Car prices are abnormally low

Dragoș Măgdălina, chief executive of Hyundai Auto România, was in May last year the first major executive to be “transferred” from Romcar, the then Ford importer, to Hyundai Romania – importer of the last “volume” brand in the portfolio of Țiriac Holdings.

Considering that in the first part of last year Ford was the best-selling import brand, the role of Măgdălina’s transfer to Hyundai, an around 80 million-euro business, according to ZF calculations, was to bring the Korean brand back among the top-selling brands on the Romanian market. At present Hyundai ranks eighth among the brands favoured by Romanian car buyers, after its sales fell nearly 60% last year.

Since the autumn of 2008, the nearly 70% decline of the car market led to discounts of up to 50%.

“Clients have gotten used to big discounts in the past few years, which led to abnormally low prices, but now services acquired along with the car will become increasingly important. One cannot sell at a discount forever,” said Dragoș Măgdălina.