Kia Motors cuts '03 domestic sales target

SEOUL, July 6, 2003; Reuters reported that Kia Motors Corp, South Korea's second-largest auto maker, has cut its domestic sales target for this year by more than 10 percent to 440,000 vehicles, citing sluggish demand, local media reported on Sunday.

Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest auto maker, also attributed the lowered local sales target to fierce competition with unlisted rivals GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co and Renault Samsung Motors Inc, Internet news provider MoneyToday reported.

"The domestic automobile market is expected to see fierce competition in the second half," Kia's President and CEO Kim Noi-Myung was quoted as telling company officials at a seminar at a northeastern resort.

Kia officials were not immediately available for comment.

South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth-largest, contracted in the first quarter for the first time in more than two years as domestic spending crumbled amid worries over North Korea's nuclear ambitions and a global economic slowdown.

Analysts have warned the economy may have contracted again in the second quarter, signalling the first recession in five years.

South Korean auto makers are expected to see total domestic sales fall 5.7 percent this year to 1.530 million vehicles, an auto industry association said earlier this month.