AIRLINK 180.10 Increased By ▲ 3.78 (2.14%)
BOP 13.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.36 (-2.68%)
CNERGY 7.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.13%)
FCCL 45.18 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.24%)
FFL 16.06 Increased By ▲ 0.84 (5.52%)
FLYNG 27.43 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.59%)
HUBC 133.24 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.11%)
HUMNL 13.02 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.08%)
KEL 4.45 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 5.97 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.17%)
MLCF 58.81 Increased By ▲ 0.78 (1.34%)
OGDC 218.59 Increased By ▲ 0.31 (0.14%)
PACE 5.87 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PAEL 42.62 Increased By ▲ 1.00 (2.4%)
PIAHCLA 16.50 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.86%)
PIBTL 9.92 Increased By ▲ 0.50 (5.31%)
POWER 11.95 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.59%)
PPL 183.08 Decreased By ▼ -1.54 (-0.83%)
PRL 35.33 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (0.43%)
PTC 24.34 Increased By ▲ 0.64 (2.7%)
SEARL 95.82 Increased By ▲ 1.29 (1.36%)
SILK 1.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.71%)
SSGC 37.31 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.3%)
SYM 16.08 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.62%)
TELE 7.88 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.13%)
TPLP 10.84 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.93%)
TRG 60.94 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.65%)
WAVESAPP 10.79 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.19%)
WTL 1.33 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.75%)
YOUW 3.77 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.27%)
BR100 12,215 Decreased By -29.5 (-0.24%)
BR30 37,439 Increased By 64.4 (0.17%)
KSE100 115,536 Increased By 441.9 (0.38%)
KSE30 35,658 Increased By 47 (0.13%)

hyundai-building 400SEOUL: South Korea's top automaker, Hyundai Motor Group, forecast Wednesday a modest 4.1 percent increase in car sales this year to 7.4 million units, with a strong won harming competitiveness.

 

The projected growth is the lowest since 2007 when the company's global sales rose 3.9 percent, according to data compiled by AFP.

 

"Market environments at home and abroad in 2013 will be very difficult due to the impact of the years-long European debt crisis and global slowdown," group chairman Chung Mong-Koo said in his New Year message to employees.

 

Hyundai, together with its smaller affiliate Kia, is the world's fifth-largest automaker.

 

The group sold 7.12 million cars worldwide last year, up 8.0 percent from 2011. But the firm has seen growth slow with weakening demand in key US and European markets.

 

Hyundai, along with other major South Korean exporters, has also struggled with a surge in the local currency that has jacked up the price of its vehicles overseas in relation to Japanese rivals such as Honda or Toyota.

 

Chung vowed to increase investment in developing environmentally-friendly vehicles and electronic technologies in a bid to "secure future growth drivers".

 

He also stressed the group's global network, including 30 factories across nine countries, would help drive growth in an unfavourable market. The firm opened two new plants in China and Brazil last year.

 

"In order to achieve the sales goal of 7.41 million, we should respond to market changes more actively and forge closer cooperation in our globalised networks," Chung said.

 

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013

Comments

Comments are closed.