Europe key for Hyundai

If Hyundai can win over European buyers, it can win brand battles worldwide. That’s the opinion of the man charged with building the Korean marque’s reputation and sales in the world’s most mature automotive marketplace.

Vice President Marketing Hyundai Europe, Jochem Sengpiehl, reckons brand building in the European theatre is the company’s number one priority.

Speaking at the unveiling of Hyundai’s new Tucson compact SUV in Berlin overnight, Sengpiehl said that victory in Europe is a key stepping stone for the brand.

“We are building great cars which are affordable, great quality, good value for money; but we need to create added value [to attract customers] and so we need to spend more attention on the brand,” Sengpiehl told motoring.com.au.

“In Europe, the cars we have are better than the perception of the brand. Now, we have to work on the brand to bring it to the same level,” he said.

The new Tucson will be a key change agent and brand ambassador for Hyundai, he says.

“It’s a global car built in Europe, designed in Europe and made for the world. It’s going its own way — playing in its own segment almost. [It has the ability to create] Something beyond [most European buyers'] expectations,” he opined.

Above all, he suggests, it’s: “a good platform that we can start to build on to have a more emotional brand in Europe”.

In Europe, as in markets like Australia, Tucson will take on established European models such as Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Yeti.

So was the choice of Berlin for the watershed unveiling a deliberate shot across Volkswagen’s bows? Although not exactly in the backyard of Europe's largest car-maker, VW’s Wolfsburg headquarters isn’t such a long way from the German capital.

Sengpiehl insists the location he picked for Hyundai’s first ever global unveil was more a nod to the connection between Tucson’s urban buyers and Berlin’s growth and cosmopolitan nature.

“[Tucson is] Our new brand ambassador in Europe. It’s made for cities. It’s made for urban people and it’s made for modern contemporary people.

“If we decide to take it away from Geneva [motor show] pretty soon comes the question, what kind of city do we launch it in?

“Berlin is fast growing… A global metropolis… It was the ideal location,” Singpiehl explained with a smile.

Sengpiehl says the complexity of the European marketplace is challenging for the brand.

“Europe is the most difficult and complicated market [in which] to have success. We have 30 countries or around that [and] many, many languages and different cultures… Compare that to Australia, the USA, China or the domestic [Korean] market [which all have] one country, one language

“To find our way in Europe is very aspirational [for the company] because we are in the home region of [the companies] making the best cars in the world. If we can make it here, we can make it everywhere,” he stated.

“If we start to put the brand in a different surrounding, in a more valuable or premium surrounding, in combination [with value for money], this is the story…

“If you consider the [worldwide] success of the German premium brands... the cars are developed in Europe, made for Europe. The European taste for making great cars is something that is very successful…

“If we therefore can find a way to attract the people in Europe and get the people behind the brand… To understand that there’s something more [to Hyundai] than only price, this will definitely have a spill over around the world,” Singpiehl stated.