Hyundai Motor's November sales down 2.3%

Hyundai Motor Saturday reported a marginal 2.3% decline in November sales at 55,762 units from 57,071 units sold in the same period of 2011.

The company's domestic sales fell by 0.7% at 34,751 units from 35,000 units sold in the corresponding month of last year.

The exports fell by 4.8% in the month under review, and stood at 21,011 units from 22,071 units shipped out in November 2011.

"The adverse market conditions due to high interest rates and inflation continued to pose challenges for growth. Increased diesel fuel price temporarily affected the strong momentum of diesel car sales," said Rakesh Srivastava, vice president, sales.

However, he added: "The festival season stimulated sales of petrol cars. Eon demand continues to grow month on month leading to supply challenges."

Segment-wise, cumulative sales of A2 segment which includes hatchback majors like Eon, Santro, i10, i20, were 48,650 units, followed by the A3 sedan segment which includes Accent and Verna at 6,526 units, A4 luxury segment sedan of Elantra at 513 units, A5 Sonata at 20 units and sports utility vehicle (SUV) Santa Fe at 53 units.

The company added that its cumulative sales during January-November 2012 grew by 4.65% at 593,448 units from 567,090 units sold in the corresponding period of 2011.

The domestic cumulative sales during the period under review increased by 5.92% at 364,579 units from 344,193 units sold in January-November 2011.

Exports during the period under review grew by 2.68% at 228,869 units from 222,897 units shipped out in the like period of last year.