Hyundai achieves the significant milestone of five million vehicles sold in Europe. The 5 millionth Hyundai is an i30 hatchback, of which they’ve sold 320,000 units across the European dealer network.

Hyundai has been present in Europe since 1977 with the Pony model. And until the very recent years they were known as a cheap and rubbish Korean car maker. That is a matter of the past though. these days Hyundai is recognized as a premium brand with great products that set new standards in terms of design, technology, and economy.

They reached the first million milestone back in 1996, and the two millionth car was sold in 2001.  With a growing awareness among European consumers and an expanding network of retailers covering a greater geographical area, Hyundai was able to hit the three million mark by 2005 and then four million in 2008.

Hyundai i30 can be recognized as the spearhead of the brand’s success in Europe. It was introduced in 2007 offering a totally European-like styling, quality and convenience. And it’s not just Europe, the car is also widely successful in other parts of the globe as well. The i30 was soon followed by new models such as i10 and i20, as well as an increasingly diverse range of models that includes the ix20 compact MPV and ix35 SUV.

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, commented, “Hitting five million sales is a wonderful achievement for Hyundai, and it marks us out as a major player in what is the world’s most competitive car market.  But this is just the beginning for the brand.  We are planning for further sales growth during 2011, to take us to 3% market share in Europe.  And in the longer term we expect the quality and desirability of our cars to help us maintain our momentum and deliver our next five million sales in a much shorter time frame.”

Milestones:

1977: First Hyundai imported into Europe
1996: One Hyundai millionth car sold in Europe
2000: Hyundai Motor Europe GmbH established
2004: Opening of R&D and Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany
2006: Opening of Hyundai Motor Europe in Offenbach, Germany
2008: Opening of first European Production plant in Nošovice, Czech Republic
2011: Hyundai launches new brand slogan ‘New Thinking. New Possibilities.’

-Ends-

Editors’ notes:

	Hyundai’s top five european markets by sales volume since 1977 have been:
	Germany: 714,260 units
	UK: 661,328 units
	Italy: 633,670 units
	Spain: 550,401 units
	Netherlands: 365,207 units
	The Hyundai i10 is the best-selling model in the UK with over 60,000 sold since launch in 2008