For a number of years, I've supported the Hyundai Kia Motors Group ( now re-named the Hyundai Motor Group to reflect the 3 core business--cars, steel and construction). The car sales numbers continue to be impressive. In fact, in the US they cannot meet demand.  Here's a timely article on what they are doing right.  I see it as quality, combined with design and lots of value. 

By Alan Ohnsman

April 2 (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest carmaker, posted a 32 percent gain in U.S. sales in March to lead Asia-based manufacturers while Toyota Motor Corp. reported a monthly decline.

Deliveries dropped 5.7 percent for Toyota. Nissan Motor Co. said yesterday it had a 27 percent gain and Honda Motor Co.’s sales rose 23 percent as the three biggest Japan-based brands braced for the full effect of the country’s March 11 earthquake, which is still disrupting auto and parts production.

“Hyundai is right in tune with what this market is demanding in terms of price and features,” said Jack Nerad, executive industry analyst for vehicle data service Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “Sales will stay strong in April. The real wild card is supply, given the Japan situation.”

U.S. demand for new autos grew for a seventh month even as gasoline prices rose and manufacturers braced for further production delays because of the quake. Employers created more jobs than forecast last month, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell in March to a two-year low of 8.8 percent.

Industrywide sales climbed 17 percent to 1.25 million cars and light trucks, according to Autodata Corp. U.S. deliveries for Japanese and South Korean brands grew 16 percent, accounting for 48.5 percent of overall sales, said Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata.

Among U.S.-based carmakers, General Motors Co.’s sales rose 9.6 percent, Ford Motor Co.’s grew 16 percent and Chrysler LLC reported a 31 percent gain.

Toyota’s Month

Toyota sold 176,222 Toyota, Lexus and Scion models last month, a total damped by declines for Camry sedans and RAV4 compact sport-utility vehicles. Toyota ranked third in U.S. sales and had a market share of 14.1 percent in March, down from 17 percent a year earlier, Autodata said.

Prius deliveries jumped 58 percent to 18,605, buoyed by gasoline prices at U.S. pumps that averaged $3.54 a gallon last month, 27 percent more than a year earlier. The hybrid was Toyota’s third-best seller after the Camry and Corolla.

Supplies of the Prius have fallen because of production halts in Japan, said Bob Carter, group vice president of the U.S. sales unit for the Toyota City, Japan-based company.

Toyota began April with only an 18-day Prius inventory, Carter said on a conference call yesterday. While Toyota doesn’t expect to run out of the cars, it isn’t certain how many vehicles will arrive from Japan over the coming weeks, he said.

‘Some Uncertainty’

“We really didn’t see a direct impact on sales from the earthquake in March, but what’s going to happen as a result of it in April and May creates some uncertainty,” said Jesse Toprak, an industry analyst with Truecar.com in Santa Monica, California. “Certainly people are going to pay more for a Prius.”

Toyota hasn’t canceled any North American production shifts yet after saying last week such a move was likely. Plants in the region will operate normal schedules next week, said Randy Pflughaupt, a group vice president for Toyota’s U.S. operations. The company doesn’t know what will happen afterward, he said.

Most auto production was curtailed in Japan following the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami that left at least 27,000 people dead or missing. While Toyota, Honda and Nissan say vehicles from Japan continue to arrive in the U.S., they expect some shortages starting later this month.

“April will be a funky month, and May could be even funkier,” Kelley Blue Book’s Nerad said. “There’s a big hole in production and we don’t know exactly how that will get filled.”

Honda, Nissan

Honda delivered 133,650 Honda and Acura models last month. The Tokyo-based company this week began temporarily reducing production at plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, citing shrinking supplies of some electronics and engine parts.

Honda’s U.S. market share was 10.7 percent, up from 10.2 percent a year ago, Autodata said.

Nissan, based in Yokohama, Japan, sold 121,141 Nissan and Infiniti autos last month, Al Castignetti, vice president of U.S. Nissan-brand sales, said in an interview.

“This was our best month ever,” he said. While the earthquake and tsunami have slowed production of some models, Nissan still had about a 50-day supply of cars and trucks to begin April, he said. U.S. sales this month and next may fall short of Nissan’s forecasts because of a lack of inventory, he said, without elaborating.

Nissan’s market share was 9.7 percent last month, up 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier.

Hyundai, based in Seoul, said it sold 61,873 cars and trucks, a record for the month, while its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. delivered 44,179 vehicles.

Subaru, the auto brand of Japan’s Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., said sales grew 13 percent. Mazda Motor Corp. boosted deliveries 33 percent, while Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. had gains of 39 percent and 11 percent.

---With assistance from Craig Trudell in Detroit. Editors: Ed Dufner, Donna Alvarado

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net