Market Insight: Hyundai’s new-car delay solution

SLUGGISH new-car supply has pushed delivery times out to two years and beyond for some brands and models but some manufacturers say a flexible approach to buying a new vehicle can substantially reduce wait times.

Hyundai is one manufacturer that has successfully maintained the flow of new vehicles despite being affected by the slowdowns in the production, shipping and retail process.

Its lesson is that customers who don’t want long delays before getting a new vehicle should talk to their dealer.

Dealers have existing stock and although it may not be exactly what the customer wants, a flexible approach may result in fast ownership.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) says factors including the model of vehicle, its trim grade, equipment level, colour and region to which it will be delivered could mean vehicles “may be available in stock for immediate delivery or in production and only a short time away”.

“We advise customers to be as flexible as possible on specification as well … It's often the case that customers can get cars within a month if they are prepared to be flexible and buy what's available.”

HMCA general manager corporate affairs Bill Thomas told GoAuto that the company wanted to provide customers with greater clarity on vehicle order wait times.

“We have a strong and continuous supply of Hyundai models arriving, however given the increase in customer demand for our products we have a large backlog of customer orders we need to fill,” he said.

“We continually have around 20,000 vehicles that are deliverable within a two-month window.

“This includes vehicles in the country, in transit, in production and scheduled for production.”

Mr Thomas said there was no particular model or model variant that was not being produced.

Semiconductor shortages, he said, were not affecting the production of certain models or variants over others.

“Supply is simply better in some models than others in particular months,” he said.

“Our logistics team is actively prioritising vehicle allocation to existing customer orders to ensure that we limit customer wait times as much as possible.”

For customers who place their order now, nine of the 15 models will be available for delivery in less than six months. 

These include the i30, Venue, Kona, Santa Fe, Palisade and Tucson diesel. The Tucson petrol has an expected delivery for new orders of about six months while the diesel is listed as being available in less than three months.

Longer lead times are shown for the i20 N and i30 N, which are about 12 months.

The advice for prospective Hyundai customers to visit their dealership and consider changes to any existing order is one of the reasons Hyundai is lifting sales and is one of only 10 mainstream brands to lift sales this year to date.

It has increased sales in the first eight months of 2022 by 5.9 per cent over the same period in 2021 and is the fifth-biggest seller with 51,602 units delivered in the year to the end of August.

It now has a market share of 7.2 per cent, up from the previous year’s 6.6 per cent but down from its 9.0 per cent share held in 2014 when, in the first eight months, it sold 73,970 units, eclipsed a year later with 76,144 sales. 

For the 2015 calendar year it sold a total of 102,004 vehicles, a high yet to be surpassed.