South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor reported its best quarterly profit in more than three years and said that it expects a boost in sales for its vehicles in the United States and China for the current year driven by the launch of new electric vehicles and crossovers.
There was a 57 per cent jump in the company’s profits for its fourth quarter at 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) which was primarily because of greater demand for the company’s crossovers and its premium Genesis cars which have high profit margins, the company said. But a drop in demand in the wider global auto market because of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the company selling 4.7 per cent year on year less vehicles on the overall during the quarter.
However a strong won hit the company’s foreign profits. In the three months to December, there was a 7 per cent appreciation in the value of the South Korean currency against the YS dollar. When the local currency of the country gets stronger against the dollar, it erodes or reduces the ultimate value of overseas sales of companies. This was particularly hard for Hyundai because North America is its biggest market.
Hyundai said that there was a 5.1 per cent growth in its revenues for the fourth quarter at 29.2 trillion won ($26.4 billion). The company reported a net profit of $1.9 billion for the full year which was lower than the $2.9 billion earned by it in 2019.
The company is expecting to see a 28 per cent rise in its sales for the current year of 2021to reach deliveries of 562,000 vehicles in China alone and the company has set a target to launch the electric version of its Mistra sedan later this year in the Chinese market.
The company also anticipates a 12 per cent surge in sales of its vehicles in North America to reach 909,000 units. There as a drop of 2 per cent in sale in this region in the fourth quarter, Hyundai said.
"With our lineup with new models ready to launch in the United States, we aim to increase our market share to 4.8 percent this year," Senior Vice President Koo Za-yong said on an earnings call.
He said that despite a drop of 10 per cent in sales in the US, the company had made a slight progress in increasing its market share in the United States last year to 4.4 per cent because of an increase in sale of the Palisade crossover and Kona EV.
Because of its provisioning of a big engine quality-related bill, the company had reported a loss for its third quarter.
"Hyundai had a good fourth quarter, especially in the United States, where higher average-selling-price cars such as SUVs saw increasing demand as consumers shun public transit because of COVID-19 and low gasoline prices," said Lee Han-joon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities. "Holiday deals helped as well."
(Source:www.autonews.com)
There was a 57 per cent jump in the company’s profits for its fourth quarter at 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) which was primarily because of greater demand for the company’s crossovers and its premium Genesis cars which have high profit margins, the company said. But a drop in demand in the wider global auto market because of the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the company selling 4.7 per cent year on year less vehicles on the overall during the quarter.
However a strong won hit the company’s foreign profits. In the three months to December, there was a 7 per cent appreciation in the value of the South Korean currency against the YS dollar. When the local currency of the country gets stronger against the dollar, it erodes or reduces the ultimate value of overseas sales of companies. This was particularly hard for Hyundai because North America is its biggest market.
Hyundai said that there was a 5.1 per cent growth in its revenues for the fourth quarter at 29.2 trillion won ($26.4 billion). The company reported a net profit of $1.9 billion for the full year which was lower than the $2.9 billion earned by it in 2019.
The company is expecting to see a 28 per cent rise in its sales for the current year of 2021to reach deliveries of 562,000 vehicles in China alone and the company has set a target to launch the electric version of its Mistra sedan later this year in the Chinese market.
The company also anticipates a 12 per cent surge in sales of its vehicles in North America to reach 909,000 units. There as a drop of 2 per cent in sale in this region in the fourth quarter, Hyundai said.
"With our lineup with new models ready to launch in the United States, we aim to increase our market share to 4.8 percent this year," Senior Vice President Koo Za-yong said on an earnings call.
He said that despite a drop of 10 per cent in sales in the US, the company had made a slight progress in increasing its market share in the United States last year to 4.4 per cent because of an increase in sale of the Palisade crossover and Kona EV.
Because of its provisioning of a big engine quality-related bill, the company had reported a loss for its third quarter.
"Hyundai had a good fourth quarter, especially in the United States, where higher average-selling-price cars such as SUVs saw increasing demand as consumers shun public transit because of COVID-19 and low gasoline prices," said Lee Han-joon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities. "Holiday deals helped as well."
(Source:www.autonews.com)
