Hyundai Motor’s global sales totalled 371,743 vehicles in September, a 3.4% year-on-year increase from September 2011’s 359,560 and the highest level since June. Domestic sales totalled 57,559, versus 56,253 in August 2011, a gain of 2.3%, while overseas sales totalled 314,184, 3.6% ahead of the August 2011 result of 303,307.
The company has begun to recover from the impact of sporadic strikes at its South Korean plants in July and August, which cost output of 82,088 vehicles, and has lifted output at plants in the US and China.
Under a new wages and conditions deal at its domestic plants, Hyundai agreed to scrap overnight work and shorten work hours from March 2013. In future, the company will operate with eight-and nine-hour shifts that end no later than 01:00. To combat production losses resulting from the shift changes, Hyundai has said it will boost productivity through facility investments totalling Won 300bn (US$266m).
A new factory in China commenced production in June, allowing Hyundai to increase supply at a time when Japanese OEMs slowed output in the wake of anti-Japan protests, and it also added a third shift at its Alabama, US plant from 4 September.
Hyundai is targeting a 19% year-on-year production boost in the US between mid-September and the end of the year, as part of efforts to meet strong regional demand. The third shift at the Alabama facility alone will provide an additional 20,000 vehicles (Sonata and Elantra models) by the end of the year. Hyundai’s stocks are also expected to be boosted by Kia’s Georgia plant, which will supply the new Santa Fe Sport. Kia is slated to build around 36,600 units of the 2013 Santa Fe Sport between August and the end of 2012, up from the 22,800 it made a year earlier.
According to a Reuters report, analysts believe the figures provide some reassurance that Hyundai has put the recent strikes behind it, although some remain concerned about the impact on Q3 earnings.
Hyundai noted in a statement: “We expect lower taxes and incentives to help buoy sales in the fourth quarter. But the continuing European debt problems and tougher competition will remain the biggest worries at the same time.”
Hyundai Motor’s sales in August had fallen 4.6% year-on-year, the OEM’s first decline in monthly sales since May 2009, hit by the industrial dispute. Global sales in August totalled 293,924, versus the 308,122 sold in August 2011, with domestic sales down 29.9% at 34,959 (August 2011; 51,264) but overseas sales up 0.4% at 257,974 (256,858).
In contrast to the sales gain at Hyundai, affiliate Kia Motors reported flat sales of 214,412 in September, reflecting the later resolution of similar sporadic strikes. Industrial action ran until 11 September, while Hyundai’s strikes were over in August. Kia posted a 7.0% year-on-year decline in domestic sales to 39,030 units (41,952), the strikes reducing its inventory. In September alone, Kia estimated its production loss at 17,075 units valued at Won 279.8bn (US$251m). In contrast, the company’s overseas sales climbed 2.5% to 175,382 in the latest month.
