Amid Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors’ continued struggles in China, the two companies said Monday they had launched a 100-strong task force last month in an attempt to pick up sales in China.

Members of the task force have temporarily been transferred from the companies’ research and development, product and marketing teams to focus on strengthening competitiveness.

“The task force was made for Hyundai and Kia to take a look into our competitiveness in the Chinese market,” said the spokesman of Hyundai Motor Group.

He added that the team is led by a chief executive level official of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, dismissing talks of Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun’s involvement as the head of the task force.

The latest move comes as the two automakers have recently stepped up measures to contain rapidly declining sales in China.

Anti-Korean sentiment among the Chinese public due to the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here along with Hyundai and Kia missing out on China’s SUV boom have more than halved the companies’ sales for four months in a row as of June.

Hyundai Motor’s sales dipped 64 percent on-year to 35,000 units last month, company data showed. Kia Motors sold 17,000 units, down 62 percent on-year.

In the first half of this year, the two sold a combined total of 429,000 units in China, down 47 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

Scrambling for ways to revive sales, Hyundai Motor will release an electric version of the Yuedong compact sedan, sold as the Elantra globally, in August, the company said.

To further tap into China’s growing eco-friendly car market, the company will also introduce a plug-in hybrid version of the Sonata midsize sedan early next year.

The ix35 SUV, a strategic model that will be exclusively sold in China, will debut there in the second half of this year along with Kia Motors’ Pegas compact sedan, the company said.

At the 2017 CES Asia held in Shanghai last month, Yang Woong-chul, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor’s R&D center, said the company will jointly develop connected cars with Baidu, China’s top web services company, to catch up with rivals in gaining a foothold in connected cars and autonomous driving.

Two features -- Baidu MapAuto and Duer OS Auto -- made by Hyundai and Baidu will first be installed in Hyundai Motor’s new model released around the end of this year, before they are installed in other models.

A day before the announcement on joining forces with Baidu, Hyundai Motor hired Simon Loasby, the head designer of Volkswagen Group China, to lead its design team in China.

The recruitment was based on Loasby’s nearly 10 years of experience in China, during which he had designed strategic models for the Chinese market, including Volkswagen’s New Lavida compact sedan and Passat midsize sedan. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)