Korea Hyundai Motor Domestic August Sales Up 11.3%

SEOUL September 2, 2002 - Dow Jones reported that South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. sold a total of 156,321 automobiles in August, including 69,040 units sold domestically and 87, 281 units exported, the company said Monday.

The country's largest carmaker saw its August car exports jumping 23.9% and local sales rising 11.3% on year.

Hyundai Motor's overall August sales rose 18% on year and was 0.4% higher than July's.

The company said exports grew on strong sales in North America as well as increasing sales of a new model in the European market.

In the local market, Hyundai Motor continued to post strong sales of its Santa Fe van and EF Sonata sedan. EF Sonata remained the carmaker's best seller, selling 9,891 units in August. Large-sized sedan Grandeur XG sold 6,421 units last month.

Small passenger cars Click and New Verna also joined Hyundai's top sellers. Thanks to strong sales of the two recently-marketed models, Hyundai took a 51.5% share of the South Korean small-passenger car market in August.

Hyundai's local passenger car sales rose 11.2% on year in August, while sales of vans and sport utility vehicles grew 34.2%. Its sales of trucks and buses last month fell 1.9% on year, the company said.