June 29, 2015
General Motors just received some unwelcome news, because Hyundai Motor Company just became the official sponsor of the NFL. A vague source claims the car manufacturer spent twice as much as GM did for the coveted position, $50 million. Even if it is less, the, NFL is getting a great deal here, regardless. Not only could they get more money upfront, but the contract is not exclusive like GM’s was. So the NFL, gets in a sponsor what some of the players in the league do from their wives, a loving supporter on the home front with the option to get casual support from other sponsors on occasion, except the automaker agreed to it. The NFL Sponsorship is a great move for Hyundai Motor Company here in the US, but the Korean company is making headway all over the globe. Another US specific gain for the company, is quite a large one, $40 billion. When considering that money came exclusively from term debt scraped together for 22 years, the number becomes almost astronomical. For that and many other reasons, Treasury Today named Hyundai Capital America’s (HCA) Treasury department, the “2015 Top Treasury Team”. This means that buying sponsorship for the Korean auto manufacturer; from both FIFA for the 2014 World Cup, and now for the NFL for the next 4 years; barely affected their cash reserves, even if you lump that with Kia’s tie with the NBA. These are just local moves, Hyundai Motor Company is making impressions all over Eastern Asia. After the debuting the Active i20 crossover in March, the company has now announced a new model, the Creta. The Creta is built on an entirely new platform, because the target demographic is gas-flush China. After low sales numbers they are focusing more attention on selling SUVs there, where the demand is booming for the bigger thirstier cars. Also to aid Chinese sales, Hyundai is opening a 4th and 5th plant in China. The 4th has to be built in Cangzhou, Hebei as per an agreement with the Chinese Government, and will be finished by 2016. The other, is exactly where they want it, Chongqing, which is in a critical location for the global automaker. The latter will have a production capability of 300,000 units by the time is finished in 2017. With those additions, auto group will have an annual output of 2.6 million units to sell in 2000 Chinese dealerships, 300 are being added to meet the 2018 increase in sales. The Korean company has not forgotten about its homeland. Yesterday, they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with POSCO. The outcome will be that both companies will assist one another in expanding the charging infrastructure in South Korea. In Seoul they just bought some residential land to make room for their massive Global Business Center (GBC). Not only will they be paying the Government trillions of won to build there, but they will also create 1.3 million jobs in the process. Hyundai Motor Company just hired Luc Donckerwolke, who previously worked all over Volkswagen AG, including Bentley and Lamborghini, signifying that they might be making a move into super car territory.