By Lee Ji-yoon
European auto sales, possibly facing a 17-year low this year, saw a further decline last month. But Korea’s Hyundai Motor was one of the few carmakers with continued growth momentum in the sluggish market, industry data found Monday.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Hyundai sold 33,687 vehicles in Europe last month, a 10.2 percent rise from the previous month.
In the first 10 months this year, the company saw a 9.3 percent growth in sales, delivering 365,640 vehicles.
Despite large-scale labor strikes at Korean factories in August and September, Hyundai secured its product supply by redirecting production to factories in other countries such as India and Turkey, industry watchers say.
Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai, however, could not avoid a monthly sales decline. The carmaker sold 28,123 vehicles last month in the area, down 3.8 percent from 29,248 units last year.
Kia still was one of the carmakers that reported annual sales growth this year in Europe with 285,883 new deliveries ― a 17.7 percent increase from last year.
The combined market share of the two Korean companies in the European car market also increased from 5 percent last year to 6.1 percent this year.
Vehicle registrations in the 27-member European Union plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland fell to 998,899 in October, a 4.6 percent drop from 1.05 million a year earlier, the Brussels-based ACEA said.
Meanwhile, the two Korean auto companies saw their Chinese market share surpass the 10 percent mark for two consecutive months in October.
Hyundai sold 80,598 vehicles, a 36.6 percent rise from the same period last year, while Kia saw a 9.7 percent increase to 45,005. Hyundai, in particular, reported the highest growth rate among the top five carmakers in China.
Adding to the popularity of Hyundai’s Langdong compact and Kia’s K series vehicles, their Japanese rivals saw weaker performance due to the deepening anti-Japan sentiment among Chinese consumers.
Japanese carmakers sold a total of 111,000 vehicles last month, less than half the sales figure of last year.
“We are introducing competitive new models into the Chinese market. With the recent completion of the third factory there, we will be able to speed up our response to the soaring car demand,” said a Hyundai official.
(jylee@heraldcorp.com)