Hyundai Motor Co.’s Beijing joint venture had raised its full-year sales target by 15 percent to 230,000 following strong sales so far this year, the president of the joint venture said.

In the first half, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. sold 109,564 cars to dealerships, up nearly 95 percent on year. Retail sales in the first half outpaced the sales to dealers, totaling 115,796 cars, said Noh Jae-man, Beijing Hyundai’s president.

The slowdown in China’s auto market started turning around in the second quarter this year, and several multinational automakers are starting to see their sales pick up. But Beijing Hyundai’s sales were little affected by the sector’s hard times, and its sales growth had been leading foreign auto makers this year.

“Our Elantra sedan continues to be the best selling model in China, and it’s helping our sales,” said Noh. Analysts said that Elantra sales were strong as the model was seen by Chinese consumers as giving value for money.

In the first half, Beijing Hyundai sold 85,623 Elantra compact sedans, 22,651 mid-sized Sonata sedans, and 1,290 small SUVs called Tucson, which went on sale in China mid-June, Noh said.

To meet strong demand, Beijing Hyundai increased production capacity in May, and by June its annual production capacity was at 300,000 units. That allowed Beijing Hyundai to produce 24,608 cars in June, a record monthly production figure for the venture, said Noh.

In the first half, Beijing Hyundai’s market share in China was 8 percent, compared with 4.5 percent in the first half last year, and 5.8 percent for all of last year. Beijing Hyundai, a latecomer in the China market, has been quickly clawing away market share from other multinationals such as Volkswagen AG, which has been in China for more than two decades.

(Shenzhen Daily July 7, 2005)