Hyundai’s May sales up 1.9 pct on overseas demand

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, said Monday its sales rose 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier helped by steady overseas sales. Hyundai Motor sold 356,223 vehicles in May, up from 349,637 units a year earlier on increased sales of SUVs and its independent Genesis brand's models, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 9.4 percent to 62,200 units from 68,680 during the cited period, while overseas sales climbed 4.7 percent to 294,023 from 280,957, the statement said. Hyundai will focus on further improving its product mix by increasing the ratio of high-end models in its lineup, while introducing electric vehicle (EV) models as planned and launching gasoline hybrid models to offset slowing sales of EVs, it said. From January to May, its vehicle sales gained 0.2 percent to 1,709,463 autos from 1,706,354 during the same period last year. Domestic sales fell 12 percent to 285,900 units in the first five months from 326,387 a year earlier. But its overseas sales rose 3. 2 percent to 1,423,563 from 1,379,967 during the same period. Source: Yonhap News Agency