Hyundai's April Sales Climb 3.8 Pct M-o-M

- Global Sales Inch Up to 243,342 units
- Overseas Plant Sales up 24.3 Pct Y-o-Y

(Seoul, Korea) Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea’s largest automaker, recorded a modest improvement in its global operations for April as sales rose by 3.8 percent month-over-month to 243,342 units, helped mostly by gains in China and India. While the picture remained bleak in the Korean market (April sales slipped a further 3.6 pct m-o-m to 47,339 units), Hyundai's three Korean factories saw a glimmer of hope as their exports rose by 1.3 pct m-o-m to 70,639 units.

Domestic Sales

While demand for the Genesis and newly-launched Equus luxury sedans remained brisk, it was not enough to offset the sluggish overall demand for passenger cars as sales slipped by 3.6 pct m-o-m to 27,841 units. Cumulative passenger car sales for the first four months of this year were down by 21.8 pct to 107, 218 units.

SUV sales continued their downward spiral in April. M-o-m sales were down 21.3 pct to 5,302 units with double-digit declines recorded for Tucson and Santa Fe. Only 23,046 SUVs were sold in Korea in the first four months of this year: a 22.8 pct y-o-y drop.

General prospects for the Korean economy would appear to have brightened with the uptick in April demand for commercial vehicles: light commercial vehicles inched up 5.1 pct m-o-m to 11,812 units while heavy commercial vehicle sales edged up by 5.4 pct to 2,384 units.

Exports

While export shipments from Hyundai's three Korean factories edged up in April to 70,639 units, the year-to-date figure of 257,725 units represents a 33.9 pct drop from the same period a year ago. Transplants in India, China, Turkey, Czech and the United States saw their combined sales rise by 8.5 pct m-o-m to 125,364 units. Indeed, overseas manufacturing operations are providing the sole bright spot: In the first four months of this year their sales have risen by 15 pct y-o-y to 426,157 units.

However, the global economic malaise is inescapable: Hyundai's global sales in the first four months of this year are down 11.8 pct y-o-y to 860,579 units.