HYUNDAI MOTOR ANNOUNCES FIRST HALF EARNINGS

- First Half Net Profit Up 10.4% - Global Market Share rises to 5.0% for the first time ever

(Seoul, Korea) Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, sold 1,403,931 units (domestic & exports: 719,478 units, overseas plants: 684,453 units) worldwide in the first half, a 5.8 percent decrease from a year earlier as demand for automobiles in the global market fell.

Net profit rose 10.4 percent to 1,036.8 billion won in the first six months of the year from 939.6 billion won a year earlier. Sales declined 18.5 percent to 14.1 trillion won from 17.3 trillion won a year earlier. Operating profit fell 31.9 percent to 811 billion won as exports from domestic plants declined from a year earlier and the company increased marketing expenses to raise brand awareness and enhance overseas dealers.

Hyundai Motor reached 5 percent of the global market share in the first half of this year for the first time ever, amid a 15 percent decline in global automobile demand compared to a year earlier. This result was achieved by expanded share in developed countries including U.S., China and in Europe as the automaker boosted efforts to raise its brand image and continued to expand marketing activities in local markets. Especially in China, Hyundai sold 257,000 units in the first half, a 56% rise from a year earlier, mainly helped by its China-exclusive models.

Hyundai Motor, which launched its first Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Elantra LPI Hybrid, in this month, will continue its efforts to develop highly fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly cars, such as plug-in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, in response to higher oil prices and consumers’ environmental concerns. The company plans to make profits continuously in the second half of this year by introducing two new models, new Sonata and Tucson.

Visit http://worldwide.hyundai.com for a detailed report on quarterly results.