Strong overseas demand boosts Hyundai sales in May

Hyundai Motor said Tuesday its sales jumped 43 percent last month from a year earlier on strong overseas demand for its models despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country’s biggest carmaker sold 323,129 vehicles in May, up from 226,456 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

On top of robust sales of its sport utility vehicle models, the company benefited from a lower base effect, as it suffered disrupted production at its plants due to the pandemic in the same month of last year, it said.

Domestic sales fell 12 percent to 62,056 units from 70,810 during the same period, while overseas sales jumped 68 percent to 261,073 from 155,646, it said.

From January to May, sales climbed 29 percent to 1,672,660 autos from 1,297,513 units in the year-ago period.

Hyundai aims to sell 4.16 million vehicles this year, which is 11 percent higher than the 3.74 million units it sold last year.

Yonhap