South Korean automaker Hyundai’s global sales in December fell by 6.4pc from December 2019 to 373,970 units. Sales in the domestic market, however, rose by 3.2pc to 68,486 units. Hyundai’s sister company, Kia reported a drop of 3.8pc in global sales to 218,256 units, and sales in South Korea dropped 20.9pc to just 38,857 units. Kia faced production disruption in local plants which led to the sharp decline in December sales.
In December, sales also declined from the prior month by 2.2pc in South Korea and by 0.9pc globally. Total sales in 2020, however, surpassed 2019 levels by 6.2pc in South Korea with 787,854 units. Global sales in 2020 on the contrary, declined by 15.4pc to 3.74mn units compared to 2019 levels.
In 2020, global sales by Kia Motors fell by 5.9pc from the year before to 2.61mn units as the pandemic raged to ravage economies. Sales in the domestic market plunged 6.2pc to 552,400 units while sales outside Korea were down by 8.7pc to 2.05mn units.
South Korean automaker Hyundai, along with its subsidiary, Kia, expects its annual combined sales to rise by 11.5pc in 2021 to 7.08mn units.