Hyundai Forecasts 83 Percent Sales Increase in China

The Chinese market is indeed one of the largest in the world and, as a result, global automakers have quite high expectations when it comes to this particular region. Hyundai is one of the companies that are expecting to benefit from the significant growth of the Chinese market and forecasts an 83 percent sales increase this year as compared to the 2008 performance.

Basically, Hyundai thinks that the new models and the country's incentives will help its models attract a bigger portion of the market and lure more people into buying fuel efficient cars.

Hyundai and Kia are expecting to deliver around 800,000 vehicles in China this year, up from 436,514 units in 2008, the company said in a statement according to Reuters.

Hyundai is one of the companies that have the ability to compete with Japanese carmakers, who are often regarded as the most powerful in these difficult economic times. Honda's boss admitted earlier this year that Hyundai might post a significant threat when it comes to the auto sector, especially when taking into account its product lineup.

"Hyundai is awesome," Honda Motor Co. CEO Takanobu Ito was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. "They are undoubtedly a threat because their products are cheap, and the quality is improving."

"Hyundai is the biggest threat for the Japanese automakers," Nissan's senior vice-president Shiro Nakamura told The AP. "They have the technology, but they seem to have cheaper labor. We have to offer the equivalents of sushi, tempura and kaiseki to compete against Korean barbecue."