Hyundai Motor’s sales fall 5.9% in August

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s top automaker, said Monday its August sales fell 5.9 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to choppy labor-management relations.

Company data showed 357,698 cars were sold overall last month, with domestic sales edging up 1 percent to 48,143. Overseas numbers dropped 6.9 percent to 309,555 cars.

In regards to domestic sales, the company said the transition to a two-shift system at its Jeonju plant and steady demand for the brand new Sonata, the 2015 Genesis premium sedan and the Avante compact contributed to propping up sales during the difficult period.

“The partial walkout by workers, after no headway was made on annual wage talks, and people taking off for summer vacation affected sales numbers last month,” the company said in a statement.

It said overseas sales were hurt because domestic production of cars earmarked for foreign markets nosedived 25.2 percent. The number of Hyundai cars made at its plants overseas was only down 0.6 percent on-year. (Yonhap)