Hyundai’s Sept. sales fall 3.7 pct on weak overseas demand

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, said Wednesday its sales fell 3.7 percent last month from a year earlier on weak overseas demand. Hyundai Motor sold 343,824 vehicles in September, down from 357,133 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales rose 3.5 percent to 55,805 units from 53,911 during the cited period, while overseas sales declined 5 percent to 288,019 from 303,222, the statement said. "In particular, high lending rates suppressed vehicle demand and increased incentives to woo customers from rivals weighed on the monthly results in overseas markets," it said. Hyundai said it will flexibly respond to changes in global markets by adjusting production and sales systems depending on local conditions. While focusing on increasing sales of high-end models, Hyundai plans to launch the Casper Electric, named Inster for overseas markets, in global markets and develop gasoline hybrid models amid the slowdown in electric vehicles. From January to September, its sales declined 1.6 percent to 3,075,861 autos from 3,127,036 during the same period last year. Domestic sales dropped 8.5 percent to 515,605 autos in the first nine months from 563,519 units a year earlier. Its overseas sales were down 0.1 percent to 2,560,256 from 2,563,517 during the same period. Source: Yonhap News Agency