Oh what a feeling: Mitsubishi, Hyundai hit big time Marketing, new designs boost sales FINAL Edition

  Sales figures tell the story. In a new vehicle market up 8.8% last year from '98, Japan's Mitsubishi sold 37.1% more cars and trucks; South Korea's Hyundai's sales rose 82%. Mitsubishi's redesigned Galant midsize sedan won a legion of new buyers and some awards from car ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUSA today (Arlington, Va.)
Main Author James R. Healey and Earle Eldridge
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published McLean, Va USA Today, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc 14.01.2000
Subjects
Automobile industry
Automobile sales
Automobile shows
Marketing
Product design
Detroit Michigan
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Summary:  Sales figures tell the story. In a new vehicle market up 8.8% last year from '98, Japan's Mitsubishi sold 37.1% more cars and trucks; South Korea's Hyundai's sales rose 82%. Mitsubishi's redesigned Galant midsize sedan won a legion of new buyers and some awards from car magazines. Improvements to Montero Sport helped, too. But the big contributor was massive advertising spending: $100 million last year, up from $30 million the year before, says Pierre Gagnon, COO of Mitsubishi's U.S. sales unit. Result: "More people are giving us a chance." Hyundai used low prices to lure, 10-year powertrain warranties to reassure. "Finally they are getting the price and quality right," says Thaddeus Malesh, auto-market expert at J.D. Power and Associates.
ISSN:0734-7456