Hyundai Motor released a facelift of the Xcient Pro in January 2024 (Courtesy of Hyundai Motor)
Hyundai Motor Co. has unseated the construction truck leader Volvo in South Korea for the first time in its history, driven by its flagship Xcient Pro model that sent the South Korean carmaker’s commercial vehicle sales about 20% higher in the first half of this year.
In the first six months of this year, Hyundai sold a total of 347 units of trucks each with eight wheels in the rear and four wheels in the front, dubbed the 8X4 dump truck, in the country, according to CarIsYou, a South Korean data provider.
The first-half sales volume is closer to the 380 units of heavy-duty trucks it sold in the entire year of 2023.
In the first half of this year, Hyundai controlled 33.3% of the domestic construction truck market, above Volvo’s 29.3%. The Swedish carmaker sold 305 units of construction trucks in the country in the same period.
Volvo had established itself as the No. 1 heavy-duty truck brand in South Korea for decades, commanding 44.5% of the market in 2020.
In 2006, Hyundai launched its first construction truck under the Xient brand in collaboration with another Swedish commercial vehicle maker Scania. In 2019, Hyundai rolled out its facelift, Xcient Pro.
The Man TGS dump trucks with 510 horse power
In 2023, Hyundai climbed to the No. 2 position in South Korea’s heavy-duty truck market, elbowing out Scania to third place.
The Swedish brand’s market share fell to 20.3% in 2023, versus the previous year’s 25.2%. It further decreased to 17.5% in the first half of this year.
Hyundai has outperformed global rivals on its home turf with improved aftersales service and price competitiveness.
The Man TGS and the Mercedes-Benz 3951 with 510 horse power sell each for around 300 million won ($224,200).
The price tags of Volvo FMX and the Scania R540 exceed 300 million won, about 100 million won more expensive than Hyundai Xcient Pro. The three models feature 540 horse power.
Hyundai’s commercial vehicle sales jumped about 20% to 1.6 trillion won in the first half of this year from the year prior.
By Jae-Fu Kim
hu@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article
