Hyundai drives profit to record
- Source: Shanghai Daily
- [08:58 April 23 2010]
- Comments
2008 Hyundai Veracruz
Hyundai Motor said net profit hit a record high in the first quarter of this year amid a jump in sales and strong performance in China and India.
Hyundai, South Korea's biggest auto maker and a rising force in the global industry, earned 1.13 trillion won ($1.02 billion) in the three months ended on March 31, it said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
That was five times higher than the net profit of 225 billion won in the same period last year. Company spokesman Ki Jin-ho said the net profit figure was an all-time high on a quarterly basis.
The maker of the Elantra and Sonata sedans and the luxury Genesis also said quarterly sales rose 39.6 percent to 8.42 trillion won from 6.03 trillion won a year earlier.
The company's global sales volume during the quarter jumped 36.6 percent from a year earlier to 842,037 vehicles.
Hyundai, which along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp forms the world's fifth-largest automotive group, has seen its market share grow in recent years through an emphasis on quality and design.
Its global market share rose to 4.8 percent in the first quarter from 4.7 percent the year before, according to Ki.
