Hyundai Motor Group has recently assembled a massive task force to tackle what it believes is a crisis after combined sales of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. in the first six months of this year plunged more than 60 percent on year in China, which represents the lion’s share in its worldwide market.

The 150-strong emergency team is composed of officials from R&D, product and marketing departments at Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, and it was set up last month with aims to analyze and assess how their brands are performing and what can be improved in the world’s largest auto market, according to the business group on Monday.

The new task force team to be directly run by the headquarters in Seoul is separate from a previous organization established under Hyundai Motor’s Chinese operations to prep for the local launch of the Genesis, Hyundai’s flagship entry into the luxury market.

For Hyundai Motor Group, it is not unusual to make or break up a task force team, but the size of the latest one is extraordinary, according to company officials. This suggests how grave the current situation is surrounding business performance in China.

According to sources, the team is said to have a direct reporting line to Chung Euisun, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor and the de factor heir to the auto group, who virtually serves as a control tower on marketing and sales of Hyundai cars in Korea and elsewhere.

In April, Chung flew to Beijing to inspect Beijing-Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai Motor’s production and distribution operations in China.

June sales in China were a mere 35,000 cars from Hyundai Motor and 17,000 cars from Kia Motors, down by 64 percent and 62 percent, respectively, from a year ago.

The two carmakers could miss more than 60 percent of its target of 1.95 million cars in China this year without major turnaround.

By Woo Jae-yoon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]