Hyundai Motor's global sales in May falls by 39% on Covid-19 impact

South Korea's Hyundai Motor has said its global sales figures in May has dropped by 39% year-on-year. The Korean carmaker could sell only 217,510vehicles amid the ongoing lockdown in several parts of the world due to coronavirus pandemic.

However, there is a bit of silver lining for the company in the May figures as it recovered from the April lows. Compared to the previous month when Hyundai could sell 167,693 units, the sales figures are up by nearly 30%.

On Monday, Hyundai issued a statement saying that while domestic sales rose 5% year-on-year, its overseas sales fell 50% due to weak demand. During this period Hyundai has launched cars like the new Elantra.

In India, Hyundai Motor announced it had sold 6,883 units in the domestic market in the month of May and that another 5,700 units had been exported in the same period. After what was a tumultuous April for almost every automotive manufacturer, sales figures from May come as some respite even if these are only a pale shadow of pre-Covid-19-times. (Read full report here)

Tarun Garg, Director (Sales, Marketing and Service) at Hyundai Motor India, had said new products from the company are paving the way forward. "In an extremely challenging market environment, HMIL made a humble beginning towards normalcy by registering cumulative sales of 12,583 for the month of May," he said in a press statement issued by the Korean car maker.

"This performance was made possible on account of strong customer interest and demand pull generated by trendsetter brands like the new Creta, new Verna, Venue, Elite i20 and Grand i10 NIOS," said Garg. The 2020 Hyundai Creta, which was launched in March this year, has now received 24,000 bookings.

Hyundai's sister company Kia Motors also announced a drop of 33% in sales compared to May, 2019. The company could sell 160,913 vehicles in May. The company recently revealed the new 2021 Rio facelift for the international markets. The latest update to the current fourth-generation Rio hatchback brings a number of enhancements to reinvigorate the car’s position in the competitive B-segment space.

In India, Kia has only two offerings in the form of Kia Seltos SUV and Kia Carnival MPV. Last week, the South Korean automobile giant announced expansion of its India plant in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district with an additional investment of US $54 million.