Hyundai, Kia's U.S. sales slump amid weak demand

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Co., South Korea's leading automakers, said Sunday each of their sales in the United States fell nearly 40 percent on-year last month on falling demand.

Hyundai sold 19,221 vehicles in November in the U.S., recording a 39.7 percent
drop from a year ago, while Kia sold 15,182 cars, posting a 37.2 percent drop in
sales, according to companies' officials.
The downswing comes as their U.S. rivals also face a steep fall in sales amid
tight auto finance credit and signs of an economic recession in the world's
largest economy. General Motors, on the verge of bankruptcy, recently reported a
41 percent drop in sales for November.
Sales of the South Korean companies' small and mid-sized vehicles were also
lackluster. Hyundai's sales in the category dipped 5.8 percent to 5,261 units
last year, while Kia sold 5,692 small and mid-sized cars, posting a 28.2 percent
plunge from last year.
Kia said it plans to release a new mid-sized sedan model, named Forte, next year
in the U.S., while Hyundai officials said they are considering producing the
Avante, known as Elantra in the U.S., in one of the company's plants in the U.S.
The combined production of cars, trucks and buses by Hyundai, Kia and other
Korean automakers is expected to total 3.89 million vehicles this year, compared
with 4.08 million units last year, due to a global economic downturn, the Korea
Automobile Manufacturers Association said last week.