Construction of a new production line for Hyundai Motor Company`s forthcoming B-sector world car restricted export sales in July but on the domestic market the company saw its share climb to more than 50 per cent. Domestic sales for July reached 64,592, up slightly over June but down by 3.1 per cent from July last year and for the year to date, totaling 411,101, up by 4.7 per cent from last year. Hyundai Motor grabbed a 50.9 per cent share of the Korean market - the first time the company has achieved that performance since February 1999. Exports were down by 23 per cent to 61,319 from last month`s figure of 80,153 and by 16.1 per cent from last year`s figure of 73,105. Exports for the year to date, remain up on 2000 with a total of 518,960 vehicles shipped compared to 478,977 for the same period in 2001. Ulsan Plant One But the fall in exports during July was explained by two factors - the construction of a new production line at the main Ulsan Plant One where Accent models are built and also by annual summer holidays for shop floor staff. Hyundai Motor`s total sales for July amounted to 125,911, down by 12.9 per cent from June`s figure of 144,566 and by 9.9 per cent from last year`s total for July of 139,763. For the year to date Hyundai`s total sales of 930,061 is up by 6.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. The new production line at Ulsan will increase the Number One plant capacity from its present total of 380,000 vehicles per years to 420,000 units per year. The increase in capacity will provide a more flexible and efficient production facility capable of producing both the Accent and next year`s new one-litre engined world car. The installation of new facilities was essential to the success of the new car and although some production has been lost due to the work, Hyundai Motor still expects to build more than 260,000 Accent units this year. It is expected that full supply will be available from August 12.. SUV sales up at home On the domestic front Hyundai Motor saw sales of its EF Sonata model pass 10,000 units for the month - only the third time this figure has been reached. There was also increased demand for the company`s Terracan and Santa Fe SUV models, leading to Hyundai capturing a 40 per cent share of the Korean SUV market for the first time. In the Commercial vehicle market, Hyundai produced 10,887 buses during July - up by 14 per cent from last month`s figure of 9,542 and up by 16 per cent from July last year. So far in 2001 61,430 buses have been produced, an increase of 6.2 per cent over the 57,868 produced last year. Truck sales remain flat with only 10,215 sold in July compared to 11,550 in June - a fall of 11 per cent. The July figure was also 11.5 per cent down compared to last year when 11,536 trucks were sold and for the year to date the total is 71,076, down by 4.9 per cent compared to the 74,764 sold in the same period last year.
