adminThe South Korean automakers, which together rank fifth in global car sales, are unable to keep up with demand because of stretched production capacity. But they have refrained from boosting capacity sharply, instead focusing on improving product quality and profits.
Bigger rival Toyota last month forecast a 20 percent jump in 2012 sales to a record 8,48 million vehicles, as it is recovering from output losses caused by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand last year.
“We will strengthen quality management we have continuously pursued,” Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai and Kia’s parent group, said yesterday in his annual speech to employees.
The 73-year-old Chung has headed Hyundai Motor Group since 2000 when he led auto-related firms out of the parent Hyundai Group, then South Korea’s biggest conglomerate marred by financial troubles and a bitter family feud.
The son of Hyundai’s founder is credited with transforming the once maker of cheap, poor-quality vehicles into a stellar performer, especially during the global economic downturn.
Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s No.2 conglomerate, is expected to top Samsung Group, which also includes Samsung Electronics, in terms of net profit in 2011, media reports said, showing how fast the motor group has grown in the past decade.
Shares of Hyundai Motor dropped 0,9 percent and Kia shares fell 0,3 percent in the wider market.
Shares in Hyundai Motor rose 23 percent and Kia shares rose 32 percent last year, far outperforming the wider market’s 11 percent fall.
The South Korean carmakers enjoyed sales gains in the United States, Europe and other key markets last year when their Japanese rivals suffered from Japan’s earthquake and Thailand’s floods as well as the strong yen.
Hyundai and Kia sold 6,6 million vehicles in 2011, beating their earlier target of 6,33 million and up 15 percent from the previous year.
In December, Hyundai’s global sales jumped 22 percent and Kia sales rose eight percent from a year earlier, as strong overseas sales continued to offset declines in domestic sales.
Hyundai is expected to report biggest year-on-year sales gains of about 40 percent among automakers in the United States in December. — Reuters.
Online Reporter