Hyundai Motor Group vice chairman Chung Eui-sun is expected to visit the automotive conglomerate’s production facility and main sales office in the United States this week.

The visit comes as sales of Hyundai Motor Co., the group’s flagship brand, fell behind the pace of the rebound in the U.S. car market last year, hurting its overall market share.

Chung will travel to the Montgomery, Georgia plant and Hyundai Motor America headquarters in California. The visit is viewed as a move by the group to tighten quality control and improve its standing in the world’s second-largest market in terms of new sales.

“The visit is not a regular tour of Hyundai’s operations,” a company executive told Yonhap, hinting that Chung is visiting to urge the manager to do more to bolster sales.

The carmaker, the world’s fifth-largest, had recently replaced John Krafcik, who led HMA for the past five years with David Zuchowski, the executive vice president of sales, with some speculating that the reshuffle reflected weak numbers and quality issues.

Hyundai, which has made a determined effort to improve customer perceptions by emphasizing its “quality first” management policy, saw its rating in JD Power’s vehicle dependability study slip for the second car model year in 2014. It ranked 27th among the 31 brands checked.

Chung, the only son and heir-apparent to South Korea’s family-run business conglomerate, is expected to arrive at the Georgia plant on Tuesday and stay overnight to look over the production line and see what efforts are going into improving quality and efficiency.

During his stay in California, the vice chairman will check HMA’s new headquarters building and devise strategy with executives to push up sales, company officials said.

Hyundai’s market share in the United States dipped to 4.6 percent in 2013, with some industry insiders blaming the “staid” lineup of its models as one reason for weaker numbers.

For the New Year, Hyundai will introduce two completely new models to North America including its Genesis premium sedan that has sold around 100,000 units since its introduction in 2009, and the popular Sonata mid-size car that competes with the compact Elantra as the company’s best-selling model.

The Genesis will reach consumers in spring with the Sonata to reach dealerships in the second half.

HMA sources said earlier in the year that the target for 2014 is to push up sales to over 750,000 units and gain a market share of at least 4.7 percent.

They said improving operation efficiency at Georgia’s 300,000-per-year production plant and getting more cars from South Korea should help sales. (Yonhap)