Two moderately new players in the UK automotive industry are resisting the trend and indicating considerable sales increases in a rapidly shrivelling market.

January was absolutely dreadful for nearly all vehicle makers in the UK, with overall unit sales down by nearly a third. However, at least two companies are resisting that trend, indicating a considerable growth in sales compared with last year. Interestingly, one of the companies, Hyundai, is a maker of cars, whereas the other, XOPC, markets a collection of High Performance Car Wiper Blades and Car Care goods. The one thing that both these companies both share is that they are quite new to the market, and provide something different to buyers in the form of unusually lengthy warranties and exceptional value for money.

Hyundai sold 1885 cars in Britain last month, a 5.66 % growth over January 2008. The growth isn’t the end result of gigantic promotional cut-price deals to big fleet buyers either, as 1352 were sold to private buyers. This represents a 33.7 % growth in sales compared to January 2008, and gave Hyundai 2.5 % of the retail car sales market.

Hyundai believe that the economic conditions have meant that buyers are investigating far more prior to making decisions, and comparing specification, prices and warranties before making a commitment.

Hyundai UK’s managing director, Tony Whitehorn, stated “Hyundai are coming out on top and it means we are attracting customers who have never considered the brand before. We are finding there are still plenty of buyers out there if you have the right cars at the right price.”

These feelings were repeated by John Akin of XOPC UK who stated that sales in January were the best ever for their collection of High Performance Silicone Wiper Blades. Mr Akin said “Many motorists are having to look seriously at the maintenance prices of their cars. Instead of habitually opting for the premium branded merchandise, they’re having to look around, and suddenly they realize that we can provide them with exceptional merchandise, at very practical prices, with a longer service life, better performance in severe conditions, and on top of that we back it all with a 12 month warranty.

That’s very uncommon for Wiper Blades. All the well established brands notify their buyers that they ought to expect to change their Wiper Blades within 6 to 12 months. On the other hand, we say – if any of our Wiper Blades that don’t last at least twleve months; we’ll change them immediately and without Charge.”