Hyundai, Kia set modest sales goal for 2018

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors set their combined sales target for this year at 7.55 million units on strengthened regional management and new models released, the company said Tuesday.

By company, Hyundai Motor will aim to sell 701,000 vehicles at home and 3.9 million overseas, totaling 4.6 million units worldwide, according to the Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer service under the Financial Supervisory Service.

Kia Motors has set its goal at 2.8 million vehicles worldwide by selling 520,000 here and 2.3 million units overseas.

This marks the lowest annual sales goal since 2013.

“Amid prolonged low economic growth and strengthened trade protectionism worldwide, the automotive industry is undergoing rapid change due to heightened competition,” said Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo in a New Year’s email to employees.

“Hyundai will lead the future auto industry by promptly reacting customers’ needs and managing sales by establishing region-based management system.”

Hyundai plans to release 12 new models this year centered on SUVs, the company said.

The electrified version of Hyundai’s first small SUV Kona with a driving distance of up to 400 kilometers is expected to be released in the first half of this year.

Starting with the fuel cell electric vehicle set for release in the first half of this year, Hyundai will also expand its green car lineup to 38 models by 2025.

Due to sluggish sales in China and the US, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 7.25 million units globally -- 688,939 units in Korea and 3.81 million units overseas -- down 7 percent on-year in 2017, the company said.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)