Hyundai Motor June sales fall 1.6 pct amid strikes
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday its June sales fell 1.6 percent from a year ago, hit by partial strikes staged by unionized workers.
South Korea's top auto maker said in a filing to the stock exchange it sold 222,926 vehicles in June, compared with 226,630 a year earlier.
The company, which is the world's sixth-largest auto maker by sales volume along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), said it sold 173,060 units abroad last month, 1.4 percent lower than 175,592 a year earlier.
Its domestic sales also declined 2.3 percent to 49,866 units from a year ago.
Shares in Hyundai, South Korea's fifth-biggest stock with a $18.6 billion market value, fell 1.49 percent to 79,400 won by 0514 GMT, compared to the wider market's <.KS11> 0.09 percent loss.
"The strike has hurt the sales total, but we are going to see better results thanks to summer vacations and new models," Jake Jang, a Hyundai spokesman, said by telephone, adding that the labor strife was cause for concern.
Hyundai's unionized workers have been walking off the job for a few hours a day since June 26 for a 9.1 percent rise in basic salary -- around three times the estimated annual inflation -- and incentive payments, the union's Web site said. Hyundai's union and management will hold wage negotiations on Tuesday.
Hyundai has said the stoppages would cost the company 262.8 billion won ($278 million), or 18,985 vehicles in lost output.
Hyundai's unionized workers also voted on Friday to bring themselves under one industry labor group to strengthen their bargaining power.
Hyundai's June total sales were 2.5 percent lower than May's revised sales of 228,640 units, with exports down 5.8 percent from 183,640 in May.
Local sales rose 10.8 percent in June from 45,000 in May, helped by new models including the Santa Fe sport utility vehicle
(SUV).
Hyundai's June sales figures come just a few days after chairman Chung Mong-koo was released on bail after spending two months in detention in a cash-for-favors scandal. His trial is still in progress.
Analysts said Chung's release would help disperse concerns about a possible leadership vacuum as Chung, known for being a hands-on manager, has been instrumental in pushing Hyundai's expansion abroad.
Hyundai, which also makes the Sonata sedan, sold 1.32 million units in the first half of this year, 9.1 percent more than a year ago.
That represented a 7.7 percent gain in domestic sales and a 9.5 percent increase in exports.
($1=945.3 Won)
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