2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

Whenever you sell out of something it is considered a good problem to have, at least to a point. Every manufacturer wants to be in the position where so many people like their cars that they have trouble keeping them in the hands of dealers. We have seen it with the third generation Toyota Prius, the Smart ForTwo when gas prices soared and it is a problem that Hyundai may be facing in the near future with their all-new Elantra sedan.

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

2011 Hyundai Elantra

The 2011 Hyundai Elantra rolled out to dealers this past December and arrived amidst pretty high reviews from the automotive press. Heck, it is the only compact sedan we know of that offers heated rear seats and a price tag under $23K fully loaded (at least that is what the online builder quotes). In fact, since heated seats are standard on the Limited Elantra, the MSRP starts at $19,980. And with interior space that surpasses the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and, according to Hyundai’s website, the Nissan Maxima the Elantra is quite the big, small car. The Elantra is actually within tenths of an inch of the all-new 2012 Ford Focus sedan in overall length. You can start to see why with 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and high class features why the Elantra more than double its sales last December after it hit dealers.

As we said, this is a pretty good problem to have, but the company is considering the possibility of importing the Elantra from Korea to keep up with demand. Last year the Elantra sold 132,246 units according to Automotive News and if it doubles they could exceed the annual capacity at the Montgomery, Ala. The plant is rated at 330,000 unit annually which sounds great until you figure in the 196,000 Sonata units produced last year. Considering its sales success, we doubt the larger cousin of the Elantra is going to see less production annual.

“If Elantra does what we think, hope it will do, it will mean we’ll have to export them from Korea,” spokesman Frank Ahrens said. “We're pretty bullish on it, given the reviews it’s received so far and the price.” The question we have for Hyundai is if that will change the price of their affordable yet well equipped car or will that take a hit in the profit margin. 

 

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[Source: Automotive News]