Hyundai to U.S. Dealers: 'Sell Many Cars'
April 03, 2008

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo told U.S. dealers to sell more cars after they turned in a mixed performance in the first quarter. “I told (them) to sell many cars," Chung said to reporters following a meeting with 16 of the carmaker's U.S. dealers, Hyundai said in a statement cited by The Associated Press.

Hyundai was among the few automakers — and the only Asian automaker — to report a U.S. sales increase in March. The South Korean automaker sold 42,796 vehicles in March, for a 2 percent increase over the year-ago March. However, for the quarter, Hyundai sold 95,338 vehicles, down about 9 percent from the year-ago quarter. Indeed, Hyundai’s sales performance is mixed.

Sales of Hyundais' small cars — the Accent and Elantra — were up for the month and the quarter. The redesigned Sonata, built at Hyundai’s Alabama plant, is off to a good start, with sales up in March but still off for the quarter as the new model ramps up.

Beyond the Sonata, Accent and Elantra, the only other vehicle in Hyundai’s portfolio that saw higher sales in March and the quarter was the Veracruz, which was just going on sale at this time last year. Sales of its Sanata Fe and Tucson SUVs, Entourage minivan and flagship Azera were off substantially for the month and the quarter.

Hyundai executives did acknowledged the U.S. slump. "The U.S. market is very difficult," Kim Jong-eun, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, told reporters Thursday in Seoul. "Demand overall is decreasing a lot."

At the same time, Hyundai announced it had record sales worldwide, selling 712,529 vehicles during the quarter, up 16 percent. Of those, 554,191 vehicles were sold overseas, a gain of 18 percent, the AP reported. The quarter also marked the first time Hyundai sold 700,000 vehicles in the first three months of a year. Hyundai credited new models, improved performance in China and the launch in South Korea in January of its luxury Genesis sedan for the record results.•

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