Hyundai sells its 10,000,000th Elantra

Thu, 30 Oct 2014

There aren't many nameplates that have sold over 10 million units in the history of the automotive industry. In fact there have only been ten, and now Hyundai has joined the list for the first time with the Elantra.

Launched 24 years ago, the Elantra has far and away been Hyundai's top selling model. Now in its fifth generation, the Elantra is sold as a coupe, sedan and wagon, and under the Avante name in its home market. It's one of the top selling cars in the world, and Hyundai has earned the right to crow that it has sold its 10,000,000 of them globally. That means that, on average, Hyundai has sold more than 45 new Elantras every hour of every day of every year since its introduction in 1990.

Other models in the 10 Million Club include the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, VW Beetle and Golf, and the Ford Model T and F-Series. The latter might still be considered the most impressive, selling over 34 million units – the vast majority in the US – to be America's top-selling vehicle for over 30 years running.

HYUNDAI ELANTRA SURPASSES 10 MILLION UNITS IN GLOBAL SALES
Elantra is Hyundai Motor's first Vehicle to Reach Historic Milestone

Oct. 30, 2014 – Hyundai Motor's award-winning Elantra, badged as Avante in some markets, recently sold its 10 millionth unit globally. Elantra is Hyundai's first model, and one of only 10 cars in the history of the auto industry, to reach 10 million sales. Elantra was launched 24 years ago in 1990 and was able to reach this mark by selling an average of 420,000 per year or approximately 1,100 a day.

"Reaching this historic mark is a testament to Elantra's staying power and the global appeal of a vehicle that delivers attractive design, functionality and class-leading performance," said Tak Uk Im, Hyundai Motor's Chief Operating Officer. "As a company it also shows our ability to quickly adapt to changing consumer preferences and continue to push the compact car segment with features once reserved for luxury vehicles."

The fifth generation of Elantra continues its high value proposition as a strong choice in the highly-competitive compact car segment. This has been validated by several coveted accolades over the model's lifecycle, including ranking the highest in its segment for initial quality in the influential J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Initial Quality StudySM (IQS). Elantra also won prestigious awards globally including North American Car of the Year, Autobest in Europe, and was named as national Car of the year in South Africa and Canada, all in 2012.

By Noah Joseph