Hyundai sales up in Dec., but not by much

Hyundai Motor, Korea’s largest carmaker by sales, said Wednesday its December sales rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier on weak overseas demand.

Hyundai sold 410,326 vehicles last month, up from 408,637 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales jumped 22 percent to 64,835 units last month from 53,361 a year ago. Overseas sales fell 2.8 percent to 345,491 from 355,276 during the same period, the carmaker said.

The slowing global economy and lower vehicle demand from China and the United States, the world’s two biggest auto markets, restricted monthly sales results, it said.

To boost sales, Hyundai launched the all-new Santa Fe SUV and the face-lifted Tucson SUV in the United States and other markets last year. But the SUV models did not greatly boost overall demand for the carmaker.

For all of 2018, sales gained 1.8 percent to 4.59 million autos from 4.51 million units a year earlier.

Kia Motors said its December sales rose 6.3 percent from a year earlier on improved overseas demand for its vehicles.

Kia sold a total of 241,199 vehicles in December, up from 226,875 units a year ago. Domestic sales fell 13 percent to 42,200 from 46,502 during the same period, while overseas sales rose 10 percent to 198,999 from 180,373, the company said in a statement.

For all of 2018, sales gained 2.4 percent to 2.81 million units from 2.75 million in the year-ago period, it said.

GM Korea, the Korean unit of General Motors, said its December sales fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier due to weak demand for its models.

GM Korea sold 42,424 vehicles in December, down from 45,466 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales declined 12 percent to 10,428 units last month from 11,852 a year ago. Exports were down 4.8 percent to 31,996 from 33,614 during the same period, it said.

For all of 2018, sales dropped 12 percent to 462,871 autos from 524,547 a year earlier, the statement said.

To revive sales, the carmaker plans to introduce 15 vehicles into the local market over the next five years. It launched the U.S.-made Equinox SUV and the upgraded Chevy Spark minicar last year.

The Traverse SUV will be the next model to be added to its lineup.

Renault Samsung Motors’ December sales plunged 30 percent from a year earlier on weaker overseas demand for its vehicles.

Renault Samsung sold 18,462 vehicles in December, down from 26,515 units the previous year, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales rose 8.6 percent to 10,805 units last month from 9,953 units a year ago. But exports nosedived 54 percent to 7,657 autos from 16,562 during the same period last year, the statement said.

For the whole of 2018, sales dropped 18 percent on year to 227,577 from 276,808, it said.

The company’s current lineup includes the SM3 compact, the all-electric SM3 Z.E. sedan, the QM3 small SUV, and the SM5, SM6 and SM7 sedans.

France’s Renault S.A. has an 80 percent stake in Renault Samsung

SsangYong Motor sales fell 0.2 percent last month from a year earlier on weak exports.

SsangYong Motor sold 14,177 vehicles in December, down from 14,208 units a year earlier, due to weak overseas demand for its vehicles, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales edged up 0.1 percent to 10,656 units in December from 10,647 a year earlier. But exports backtracked 1.1 percent to 3,521 units from 3,561 during the same period, it said.

For the whole of 2018, the maker of the flagship G4 Rexton and compact Tivoli SUVs sold a combined 141,995 vehicles, down 1.2 percent from 143,685 a year earlier, the company said.

Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra owns a 72.85 percent stake in SsangYong Motor.

Yonhap