Search Hyundai Motor America Inc. online, and you’ll get countless reports about its newest models, sponsorships and record-breaking sales.
Check for Hyundai Capital America, and you’ll just about draw a blank.
Hyundai Motor has 335,586 “likes” and an up-to-date listing of activities on its Facebook page.
Hyundai Capital has 69 “likes” and a boilerplate description.
The Hyundai name is clearly tied to the car company, which is based temporarily in Costa Mesa while its $150 million Fountain Valley home is under construction. For good reason: The automaker has been on a tear, with 645,691 vehicles sold last year, a 20% annual increase that brought its second-straight record-breaking year.
Yet most of those sales are financed by Irvine-based Hyundai Capital America Inc., which has 250 workers and other 600 spread over another office here and others in Atlanta and Dallas.
It’s the captive finance company both for Hyundai Motor and Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. The two car brands are part of Seoul, South Korea-based Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.
Hyundai Capital is under the same umbrella, operating through Hyundai Motor Finance and Kia Motors Finance.
Lack of Limelight
The lack of limelight is fine with Hyundai Capital.
“Our sole motivation is to help Hyundai and Kia sell cars,” said Tim Devine, vice president of sales at the Irvine-based lender.
It makes good on that goal by serving as a middleman of sorts.
“We’re an indirect lender,” Devine said. “You have the factory that is selling cars to the dealers, and the dealer is in turn selling loans to us. Our value proposition to the dealers is that we take care of their customers and…direct them back to the dealerships. We try to really make it a very nice experience for them, not only from the car side, but from the financing side.”
The company’s portfolio includes mostly auto loans and leases. It also handles commercial and real estate loans and credit lines for dealerships throughout the U.S.
1 Million Customers
Hyundai Capital serves about 1 million car buyers, 800 Hyundai dealers and 760 Kia dealers.
Devine calls the company a “safe harbor” that gives the car brands and its dealers a solid financing base for expansion.
“It’s a three-legged stool: dealers, manufacturers and the finance company,” he said. “If they work well together, it’s a very successful brand.”
Hyundai Capital first entered the U.S. market in 1989. It runs with a good deal of autonomy from Hyundai operations in South Korea.
“What we do here may not work in Korea, because there are not really dealers in Korea,” Devine said. “But there’s a lot of sharing. Just this week, we had a team in China trying to launch a finance company. They have dealerships that sell to consumers, and those dealerships need floor plan financing. So there are some synergies that we share. That’s the real advantage of being a global company. You have this huge 360 [degree] view of the world.”
Hyundai Capital first set up shop in Fountain Valley. About 10 years later it took the top four floors of the prestigious Michelson building at Park Place in Irvine. A Hyundai Capital sign is atop the building, high over the San Diego (405) Freeway—one of the few examples of marketing for the operation.
“We’re close to both manufacturers,” Devine said. “Kia headquarters is five miles down the road, and [Hyundai Motor] is two miles up the road.”
Labor Pool
Orange County’s labor pool is another important factor for Hyundai Capital.
“OC also has a very educated population, so it’s a great workforce to have,” Devine said. “If you want to recruit, just take somebody out to Newport and show them the beach. The growth of Hyundai and Kia, and our growth [require that we] keep up with our infrastructure, and our infrastructure is the people.”
The cars are doing their part, too.
“It’s been a really nice ride for both Hyundai and Kia over the last three years,” Devine said. “Their success ends up being our success.”
Kia has been increasing its share of the U.S. auto industry along with Hyundai’s good fortune, seeing record-breaking growth of its own the past few years.
Kia sold 485,492 vehicles last year, a 36% jump from a year earlier.
Devine said he expects the Hyundai Capital’s business to keep rolling as the auto industry sees an overall rebound.
“There’s so much pent-up demand,” he said. “You can only drive your car for so long. The auto industry is coming out of its worst days, and it’s going to be a very bright future for all the manufacturers. And as [Hyundai and Kia] maintain market share, their sales will increase.”
