Hyundai Motor Recovers Operating Profit to 30 Trillion KRW... Sales Surpass 100 Trillion KRW for the First Time (Update)

by Sung Kiho

Published 22 Jan.2020 14:16(KST)

Updated 22 Jan.2020 14:39(KST)

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Euisun is delivering a New Year's address at the 2020 Hyundai Motor Group Kick-off Ceremony held at Hyundai Motor Company headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 2nd. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Despite a decline in sales last year, Hyundai Motor Company recovered operating profit in the 3 trillion won range. Thanks to the rise in operating profit, sales also surpassed 100 trillion won for the first time in history.

On the 22nd, Hyundai Motor announced through a management performance conference call that its operating profit last year reached 3.6847 trillion won. This represents a 52.1% increase compared to the same period last year.

Additionally, last year's sales amounted to 105.7904 trillion won, up 9.3% from the previous year. The operating profit margin relative to sales was recorded at 3.5%.

A Hyundai Motor official explained, "Despite large one-time expenses in the third quarter, last year's annual operating profit increased by 52% compared to the previous year due to fundamental structural improvements such as improved sales mix and reduced incentives, as well as favorable exchange rate conditions."

In particular, operating profit increased despite a decrease in automobile sales last year. Hyundai's global sales last year were 4,425,528 units, down 3.6% from the previous year.

The fourth quarter performance improved noticeably. Sales amounted to 27.8681 trillion won, up 10.5% from the same period last year. Operating profit rose 148.2% to 1.2436 trillion won.

On the other hand, fourth quarter sales volume decreased by 2.5% to 1,195,859 units. In the domestic market during the fourth quarter, despite continued strong sales of new models such as the Palisade and The New Grandeur, sales fell 0.4% year-on-year to 194,407 units due to waiting demand ahead of the GV80 launch and aging of some models like the Avante. In overseas markets, sales declined 2.9% year-on-year to 1,001,452 units due to prolonged demand contraction in China and India.

A Hyundai Motor official stated, "This year, as new models of key vehicles are launched and the Genesis lineup is further strengthened, we will focus all our capabilities on improving profitability."