A Kia car at the Nanjing Auto Show. The South Korean car brand saw its sales decrease by 33 percent during the first seven months in China. [Liu Jianhua / For China Daily]

Automaker tries to revive business after poor performance in China

Hyundai Kia Automotive Group announced a major reshuffle of senior executives last week.

The moves were seen as a rescue attempt for the automaker's sluggish business in China after its sales performance continued to drop.

The reshuffle included appointments of new general managers of the joint ventures in China, with former executives hired as business consultants.

Lee Byung-ho was appointed general manager of Beijing Hyundai Motor, while Kim Gyun will be the general manager of Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motor.

Tan Tao-hung will be responsible for the strategies for the two Sino-South Korean joint ventures. The group said the joint ventures need to strengthen their skills in coping with the Chinese market.

Beijing Hyundai Motor's Brand and Communications Director Hsueh Haochih said the new appointments were "normal changes".

Beijing Hyundai Motor's former general manager Kim Tae-yun will be the plant construction standing consultant, and Dongfeng Yueda Kia's former general manager So Nam-young will be the standing consultant.

The two brands have suffered sales slumps in the Chinese market. Hyundai's sales dropped by 32.4 percent to 54,160 vehicles, and its accumulative sales declined 10.8 percent in the first seven months to 564,451 units.

Kia's sales dropped by 33 percent during the same period.

Joining the SUV boom

Hyundai told Bloomberg it plans to take measures to boost its sales in China.

Hyundai is playing catch-up after missing out on a worldwide sport utility vehicle boom sparked in part by a decline in gasoline prices.

None of the automaker's vehicles ranked among the 10 best-selling SUVs in the first quarter in China, its biggest market.