Hyundai Motor ranks last in terms of R&D investment, and its future development may be further restricted

In a ranking of the proportion of R&D investment to operating income of major multinational automakers in 2017, Hyundai Motor ranked almost at the bottom. Considering Hyundai Motor's market performance in recent years, the low proportion of Hyundai Motor's R&D expenses may limit its future development.

Specific data shows that the average R&D ratio of the 20 automakers is 3.18%. Paccar, which ranks last, is a US truck group.

That is to say, in the field of passenger cars, Hyundai ranks last among mainstream car companies. The other two companies with a ratio below the average are Kia Group and Fiat-Chrysler Group. The Fiat brand under Fiat-Chrysler Group has gradually withdrawn from the Chinese market.

BMW Group, which ranks first on the list, has a ratio of R&D to operating income that is 2.4 times that of Hyundai. According to industry insiders, the R&D investment ratio of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors of South Korea has always been at the bottom among multinational automobile groups.

In recent years, Hyundai's profits have continued to fall, from 9.05 trillion won in 2012 to 4.55 trillion won in 2017. In five years, Hyundai Motor's net profit has almost fallen by half.

In the first half of 2018, Hyundai Motor sold a total of 2,241,530 vehicles worldwide, a 4.5% increase over the same period last year. However, its net profit was only 1.543 trillion won, a 33.5% decrease over the same period last year.

In the Chinese market, Beijing Hyundai has been having a hard time since its sales plummeted in 2017.

In the first half of 2018, Beijing Hyundai achieved sales of 381,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 25%, showing a recovery trend, but still far from the peak sales of 506,000 vehicles in the first half of 2016. At the same time, the sales growth was mainly driven by low-end and mid-range models, which is very unfavorable for future development.

Beijing Hyundai is trying to introduce new models to change the situation.

ENCINO, which was launched in April, is the first car in Beijing Hyundai's performance series under the "three vertical and three horizontal" strategy. Its appearance broke the previous product image of Beijing Hyundai. "Three verticals and three horizontals" is the new strategy adopted by Beijing Hyundai. Vertically, it will create three car series: "basic series, performance series, and new energy series"; horizontally, it will continuously launch new products with "electric technology, intelligent technology, and network technology" as the main drivers.

In the second half of the year, Beijing Hyundai will successively launch Sonata 9 PHEV, the new Verna RV, LAFESTA and two new SUV models.

I wonder if Hyundai can reverse its decline in the future.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.