"Cars Shouldn't Be a Luxury Product, But Regulations Heavily Influence Us"

Xavier Martinet has taken the helm of Hyundai Europe after spending 27 years at Renault. His goal is to change the perception of his brand in the common market, where it faces rivals with over a century of history. Currently, Hyundai ranks tenth (fourth if Kia, the other brand of the group, is included), and aims to surpass its competitors within 10 years.

—What are the differences between working for the French and the Koreans?

—I already knew José Muñoz [the current global CEO] and liked the idea of implementing his strategy at the European level. Hyundai has many assets to be one of the winners in the automotive industry. I don't want to compare working for the French with the Koreans. It's simply a different structure. Hyundai's main market is the United States. How do you build a strategy to become one of the performance pillars worldwide?

I have the challenge of directing the investments of a huge group in Europe and becoming a competitive market. We owe Korea this clarity on priorities, which forces us to listen more to customers and understand the common points with other markets.

—How much leeway does Europe have to design its strategy and how much is imposed?

—José Muñoz validated our strategy and we are nourished by his global vision. Hopefully, he is also incorporating elements from us. It's always like this, from bottom to top and top to bottom at the same time. You can't go in just one direction.

He is the first to seek the opinion of dealers. He wants to know what the people who talk to customers daily say, because sometimes we tend to be far from the customers. And it's very important to consider them, because they are the ones who pay our salaries.

—How do you intend to sell more small cars?

—By launching the right products. In the next 18 months, we will launch three cars in the B segment. The A segment is suffering because they were cars around 12,000 euros and with all the European regulations, it's very complex to manufacture them profitably. Safety and technology standards translate into cost, and manufacturers are criticized for prices.

—There has been talk of creating specific regulations for small cars in Europe.

—If there is a possibility to deregulate small vehicles, perfect, because we can offer them at a lower price. However, I don't know if Europe will listen to us, because we complained about the CO2 regulation for 2025 and they only extended the date, but didn't change the limits.

I'm not a politician, so I don't know if it's possible. All I know is that, at some point, the weight of regulation, its cost in recent years, has increased so much that small cars are suffering more than large ones.

—Does Hyundai have enough presence in the fleet market?

—No, and one of the keys to achieving growth is balancing the channels so they are even. The same goes for engines, we want to reduce dispersion. With fleets, there is a structure we need to develop. We are not starting from scratch, but we need to implement all the ingredients to improve our performance.

In the fleet area, the key is not to be good at a given moment. It's about being consistently good over time and being able to build this relationship with fleet customers, both in sales and after-sales.

—What timelines do you have for Hyundai to gain positions in Europe?

—Our strategic plan is set for 10 years. If fundamental changes are desired, time is needed, but it's not advisable to wait until the ninth year to grow. It's necessary to defend this multidimensional approach, focusing on the product. After all, this is about selling cars and, today, competitiveness is very high. Therefore, it's essential to make a difference and do things that others don't to change people's perception of Hyundai.

—Electric cars have a 15% share in Europe, are we on track with the goals to eliminate combustion engines by 2035?

—We have serious doubts. The Commission predicted a 31% share of electric cars in 2022, and three years later, we are halfway there.

—Would a community-wide incentive plan be interesting?

—The idea is attractive, but I don't think it's realistic. The fiscal framework varies greatly between countries and they argue a lot over each point. What we want is stability to be able to design plans. The example of aid in Germany was good, but it stopped abruptly.

—Will cars become something out of reach for the general public?

—They shouldn't, but the cost of regulation is very important in the equation, and it's about offering the best possible product. When we see car prices increase, it's also because we are covering a part of the market that we didn't cover before. An example is the Ioniq 9: there is no clear competitor, which shows that, for decades, Hyundai has tried to regain lost ground. And now we are leading the way.