April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor said on Jan. 25 it plans to double production of Santa Fe sport utility vehicles in the US to capitalize on the growing popularity of SUVs.

“We plan to launch new cars and facelift models, as well as sport utility vehicles, to strengthen our competitiveness in the US,” Koo Za-yong, Hyundai vice president in charge of investor relations, said during a conference call after the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. “We will also increase Santa Fe production at the US plant to 65,000 units this year, up from 36,000 units last year.”

The automaker said it will expand production of Tucson compact SUV in the country as well.

This year, Hyundai plans to launch the facelift version of Sonata to increase sedan sales in the US, while introducing eco-friendly cars Ioniq Electric and Ioniq Hybrid for a green push.

Earlier this month Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors -- which make up Hyundai Motor Group –- announced US$3.1 billion investment in the US, joining global auto giants that have announced large investment plans in view of new President Donald Trump’s protectionism policy. “We are carefully watching Trump’s policy changes to minimize the effect it will have on our US sales,” Koo said. “The investment amount will be used for research and development of future car technologies such as autonomous cars and eco-friendly vehicles.”

During the conference call on Jan. 25, Hyundai said its fourth-quarter operating profit slumped 32.6 percent on-year to 1.02 trillion won (US$876.03 million) last year, largely hit hard by production loss at domestic plants and slowed sales in emerging markets. Revenue came to 24.53 trillion won, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier, while net profit stood at 1.07 trillion won in the October-December period, down 30.1 percent on-year.

Overall, the automaker posted annual revenue of 93.65 trillion won, up 1.8 percent from 2015, but its operating profit slipped 18.3 percent to 5.19 trillion won, the lowest level since 2010.

Hyundai logged a net profit of 5.72 trillion won in 2016, down 12.1 percent from 2015. The automaker sold 4.85 million cars globally, down 2.1 percent from the previous year.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)