new delhi frank maione breathed a sigh of relief this month when hyundai motor co started delivering the redesigned santa fe crossover utility vehicle to his nevada showrooma streak of annual hyundai us sales gains that began in the depths of the 2009 recession came to an abrupt end last year deliveries slumped to the lowest in six years as american consumers raced into sport utility vehicles and snubbed sedans hurting the south korean company more than any other major automaker sales have kept slipping this year in no small part due to the dearth of competitive crossover models to choose fromthe car business is a roller coaster said maione owner of the henderson hyundai superstore in suburban las vegas we were riding high for a long time were at the bottom now and on our way backsanta fe is the third fresh suv hyundai is rolling out to the us market this year following the allnew compact kona and the redesigned tucson the company will round out those offerings with a batterypowered version of the kona that boasts more range than the base tesla model 3 or chevrolet boltby the end of this year about 44 per cent of hyundais us sales should come from crossovers and suvs up from 36 per cent in december said brian smith chief operating officer of hyundai motor america the company still lags behind the us industry with suvs and light trucks now making up more than twothirds of total sales the automaker plans to keep the fresh product for these segments coming with a subcompact and an eightpassenger behemoth slated to arrive next year its twoyearold genesis luxury unit also will get its first crossover in 2019latearriving crossovers have cost hyundai its us sales unit lost 868 billion won 780 million last year compared with a 470 billion won profit in 2012 firsthalf losses this year widened 60 per cent to 391 billion wonhyundai shares rose 12 per cent on friday in seoul their biggest gain in two weeks they are still down 20 per cent this year adding pressure to an underthegun management team thats promised to announce a revised restructuring plan to boost transparency and shareholder value an earlier plan was scrapped after backlash from shareholders including billionaire paul singers elliott management corp which has a 1 billion stake in various hyundai motor group companieshyundais us executives and dealers are seeking more influence as the company tries to right the ship the big difference is that in korea they distribute cars directly from the manufacturer they dont have independent dealers like they do in the us maione said theyre struggling to iron out these different viewpointssmith who left toyota motor corp to join hyundai 10 months ago doesnt dispute thishyundai recently finished staffing up a north american headquarters that will coordinate sales production pricing and marketing decisions with less oversight from korea well be making decisions appropriate for north america with speed and with knowledge of the local market that