April 20, 2024

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Hyundai Motor said on April 1 its sales fell 2.2 percent last month from a year earlier on weak overseas demand. 

The automaker sold 389,160 vehicles in March, down from 397,747 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales rose 3.7 percent to 70,111 units last month from 67,577 a year ago. But overseas sales fell 3.4 percent to 319,049 from 330,170 during the same period, the statement said. 

Robust demand for the all-new Santa Fe and Palisade SUVs helped domestic sales last month but weak demand from China and emerging markets, such as Latin America weighed on the results, it said.

In the January-March quarter, overall sales declined 2.8 percent to 1,020,374 autos from 1,049,389 in the year-ago period, the statement said.  

Its smaller affiliate Kia Motors said its sales remained unchanged last month compared to a year earlier as demand for its vehicles was weak. 

Kia sold 242,617 vehicles in March, almost unchanged from 242,608 units a year ago, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 8.9 percent on-year to 44,233 units last month from 48,540. But overseas sales moved up 2.2 percent to 198,384 from 194,068 over the same period, helped by demand for the Sportage sport utility vehicle, it said.

In the January-March quarter, overall sales gained 0.6 percent to 650,143 autos from 646,374 the same period last year, the statement said. 

Renault Samsung Motors saw its sales plunge 49 percent last month from a year earlier on weak exports.  

It sold 13,796 vehicles in March, down from 27,059 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. 

Domestic sales dropped 16 percent to 6,540 units last month from 7,800 units a year ago. Exports nose-dived 62 percent to 7,256 from 19,259 vehicles during the same period, the statement said. 

In the January-March quarter, sales were down 40 percent to 39,210 autos from 64,900 in the year-ago period, it said.
On the other hand,  SsangYong Motor’s sales rose 16 percent last month from a year earlier on robust sales of its sport utility vehicle models.

It sold 13,158 vehicles in March, up from 11,369 units the previous year, with numbers being buoyed by solid demand for the Rexton Sports and Rexton Sports Khan SUVs, the company said in a statement. 

Domestic sales jumped 19 percent to 10,984 units in March from 9,243 a year earlier. Exports surged 23 percent to 2,606 units from 2,126 during the same period, it said.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)