TrueCar: Hyundai-Kia to outsell Toyota, Honda in May 2011 in the U.S.

Good news just seems to be coming Hyundai and Kia’s way on a day-to-day basis. According to industry analyst firm TrueCar.com, Hyundai-Kia Automotive will outsell Toyota and Honda in May in the United States. TrueCar.com said that it expects Hyundai-Kia to sell a total of 115,434 units in May, an increase of 43.4 percent from May 2010.

The figure would give the Hyundai-Kia group a 10.9 percent market share and will make it No. 3 behind Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.

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TrueCar’s Jesse Toprak said that Honda and Toyota’s May sales will be hit hard by low inventory due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“There have been some real and perceived shortages of Japanese vehicles, and the message to consumers when they look around in the media is ‘you might as well not buy something,” Toprak said. “But the truth is that if Hyundai-Kia didn’t have the right type of products at the right time, they wouldn’t have been able to capitalize on this opportunity.”

TrueCar expects Honda and Acura to sell 92,889 units in May 2011, down 20.7 percent from May 2010. Toyota, Lexus and Scion sales are expected to drop 32.8 percent to 109,416 units.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News