Monday, June 23, 2008 Hyundai’s global sales up 8.5%
HYUNDAI Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, posted its best sales performance for the month of May.
Sales rose 8.5 percent to 251,271 units on a global basis from a year earlier.
Of this figure, domestic sales rose three percent to 55,202 units, while overseas sales were up 10.1 percent to 196,069 units.
Despite the various difficulties facing the domestic and overseas markets, such as the sales drop in SUV’s due to a sharp rise in domestic diesel prices and a slowdown in the U.S. market, Hyundai Motor’s sales were led by new products such as the Genesis, the new Sonata and i30.
Strong sales at Hyundai’s overseas plants including India and China also contributed to May’s positive results.
“The situation in global markets is deteriorating, with the economic slowdown in the U.S. and surging oil and commodity prices, but we are confident that we can reach global sales of 3 million units this year through our additional operations in China and India, as well as through our efforts in emerging markets such as Russia and the Middle East,” a Hyundai official said.
