Hyundai Motor Q3 sales soar 30% on increased global sales

Hyundai Motor on Monday reported 37.7 trillion won ($26.2 billion) in total sales for the third quarter, an increase of 30.6 percent on-year. It was boosted by a significant increase in global sales, which the automaker forecast would expand in the final quarter as the auto parts supply crunch eases.

Hyundai Motor sold 1.02 million cars from July to September, according to a regulatory filing.

The third quarter is regarded as a low season for the carmaker, as employees take vacations for the summer and the Chuseok holiday. But Hyundai’s strategy in increasing the retail price of products has worked out, the company said. A sales boom for highly priced SUV models and products from luxury brand Genesis have contributed to the third-quarter results, it added.

Hyundai Motor saw a 5 percent increase in local sales by selling 162,439 units, and a 15.9 percent increase for the 862,659 units it sold globally, mainly thanks to the popularity of eco-friendly models.

The Korean carmaker recorded 1.5 trillion won in operating profit, which slid 3.4 percent on-year mainly due to the recalls of its defective Theta GDI engines.

“The production volume is continued to increase with the gradual recovery of global automotive chip shortages, but the inventory is still low across the industry and the global business uncertainties are expected to continue, such as geographical risks and the rise in the interest rate,” said a Hyundai Motor official.

Taking into account the impact of the headwinds, the company said it has revised the annual wholesale goal of vehicles from the original 4.32 million to 4.01 million units.

But with the weakening Korean currency against the US dollar, the carmaker said it expects to raise the target goal for the sales growth rate to 19 to 20 percent, from the previous 13 to 14 percent sales growth rate on-year.

Market experts view that the weaker won has benefited the Korean automaker as almost 60 percent of their cars manufactured in Korea are for export.