Hyundai Sales Boosted By Strong India And US Demand

Hyundai Motor posted better-than-expected third-quarter operating results as strong demand for its vehicles in North America and India offset a decline in the rest of the world.

Operating profit rose 5.5 percent to 2.68 trillion won, or two billion dollars, Hyundai said Thursday. This exceeded analysts’ estimates of 2.61 trillion won.

The results were helped by the company’s best-ever third quarter in the U.S. market, where rising gasoline prices boosted sales of hybrid models, including the Santa Fe SUV and the Sonata sedan. Retail sales in India, a key market for future growth, increased by 9.5 percent, Bloomberg writes.

Hyundai shares rose more than four percent on the Seoul stock market after the results were announced, before paring some of the gains. They are still about 60 percent below this year’s peak reached at the beginning of June.

While the results are a much-needed boost for Hyundai, the sector faces mounting obstacles. China’s auto market has been shrinking for months, while the end of subsidies for electric vehicles in the US has hit sales of the group’s all-electric models.

Brands led by BYD are expanding their operations in Europe as well, winning market share with hybrid models at competitive prices. On the domestic market, Hyundai’s production was hit by strikes.

Despite recovery in North America and India, sales weakened in other key markets. In China in the third quarter, it fell by 50 percent, in Europe by 18 percent, and in South Korea by 27 percent. Wholesale deliveries totaled about 920,000 vehicles, down more than 11 percent from a year earlier, as strikes and holidays reduced the number of business days.

Due to difficult business conditions, the company lowered its sales target for 2026 from 4.16 million to four million vehicles and reduced its annual investment plan by 10 percent, to 16 trillion won.

Hyundai also faces US tariffs, which it expects to cost it about four trillion won this year, similar to last year’s figure of 4.1 trillion won. The strengthening of the South Korean won, which is near its highest level in the past two years, has significantly reduced provisions for warranty costs and thus eased pressure on margins, even though the company generates most of its revenue overseas. Revenues in the third quarter fell by 3.4 percent to 45.1 trillion won

Despite pressures on overall sales, hybrid models represented 18.2 percent of the company’s total sales in the third quarter, up 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

The share of all electrified vehicles, including hybrids and fully electric cars, reached 26.7 percent.

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