Struggling in Japan despite success elsewhere, South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor is banking on the "Cool Korea" craze to boost sales by luring Japanese women who often hold the family purse strings.
The Hyundai group ranks seventh in the world, boasts the second-largest market share in India and was the best seller in the first quarter in China.
Yet in the Japanese market it has been struggling ever since its entry in 2001 as the only South Korean automaker. It sold just 2,500 vehicles in Japan last year, holding a share of less than 1 percent.
PHOTO: AFP
Now it hopes to change that, with a little help from South Korean heart-throb Bae Yong-joon, the new face of Hyundai's campaign for the Sonata sedan that was launched in Japan last month.
As PR manager for Hyundai in Japan, Momoki Tsujimura admits he has his work cut out.
"Our market share is extremely low in Japan," Tsujimura said.
He blames the weak sales on persistent discrimination in Japan against Korea, as well as poor brand recognition and a belief among consumers that imported cars should be European.
But Hyundai now has a peg to crack into Japan -- a South Korean boom built on the popularity of film stars and singers that has grown despite diplomatic friction over war-time memories.
Even the Sonata name evokes the hugely popular South Korean TV series Winter Sonata featuring Bae, whom Hyundai mobilized for ads akin to scenes from the drama.
Bae is a heart-throb among middle-aged women and a central figure in Japan's Korea craze.
"The Korea boom is a very strong following wind for us," Tsujimura said on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show.
Hyundai Japan boosted its ad spending 10 times this year and saw an "instant impact" from using Bae in its sales promotions, he said.
"The exhibition of the Sonata right after the announcement of its launch ... drew some 4,000 groups or more than 8,000 people to our 60 showrooms in Japan. The reaction far exceeded our expectations," he said.
Hyundai launched ads featuring Bae in women's magazines and anyone filling in a questionnaire at a Hyundai showroom gets a special postcard carrying a picture of Bae leaning against a silver Sonata.
"The main Hyundai customers used to be men in their 40s or 50s but the interest [in the new car] has started spreading from women," Tsujimura said.
Hyundai sold 112 Sonatas last month and another 100 this month in what the company sees as a firm start in Japan.
Globally it sold 230,000 units of the sedan last year and is on course to achieve a target of 360,000 units this year.
At ?2.09 million (US$18,100) to ?2.68 million, the 2,400-cc new Sonata is some 10 to 20 percent cheaper than Japanese cars in a comparable class, but even so analysts are sceptical that it will prove a hit.
"The Japanese want the top of top models for import cars," Credit Suisse First Boston auto analyst Koji Endo said
Another analyst, however, said it was a good strategy to target housewives and added that "few Japanese consumers have recognized the quality of [South] Korean cars have greatly improved."
"Consumers here are probably willing to buy [South] Korean cars if their prices are radically low, while Hyundai wants to sell models in ordinary price bands. The company needs to think of ways to fill this gap," he said.
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