Hyundai sales rise

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top auto maker, said May sales rose 6.6 per cent from a year earlier, lifted by healthy exports of Sonata sedans and Tucson SUVs to the key US market. Hyundai officially opened its first US plant in Alabama last month, seeking a firmer foothold in a market where sales have more than quadrupled over the last six years to make Hyundai the fourth largest import brand.

The fate of the plant is seen by analysts as a litmus test for the company's success in the world market.

Hyundai, the world's seventh-largest carmaker, sold 202,087 vehicles in May, up 6.6 per cent from 189,644 a year earlier. Exports jumped 9.2 per cent to 156,266 units, while local sales fell 1.4 per cent to 45,821 units.

Total sales declined 5.1 per cent from the previous month, as it had to halt production at its Chinese plant for rebuilding work that will double its capacity to 300,000 units a year, a Hyundai spokesman said.

"The US sales were robust, helped by rising popularity of Sonata sedans and other SUVs. Had it not been for production suspension in China, sales would have risen from April as well," Hyundai spokesman Park Sang-woo said.

Hyundai expects its US sales to rise about 16 per cent this year to 485,000 vehicles, winning market share from struggling auto giants General Motors and Ford Motor Co. Cars built and sold overseas are also counted as exports.

Hyundai, which controls half of the domestic market, has had to cope with an unusually tough period for South Korean exporters in the face of a strong currency, pricey raw materials and a sluggish local economy.

Hyundai is due to hold wage talks with its powerful 40,000-strong union in coming weeks. Big pay rises could dent profits and any strike action could lead to lost production and sales.