Hyundai Motor has raised its 2009 China sales target for a second time because of stimulus measures by the Chinese government to boost demand and as the company plans to launch new models.
Hyundai said in a statement cited by Reuters its Chinese unit aimed to sell 450,000 cars this year, 12.5% higher than its previous target.
In April, a Beijing Hyundai executive said the company had lifted its sales target in China for this year to 400,000 units from 360,000, compared with 294,506 in 2008.
“The unit has posted brisk sales so far this year following China’s measures to bolster car demand. Our new models will help us achieve higher sales there,” a company official told Reuters.
Rivals Nissan and Honda have just announced China output boosts to meet growing demand.
“Hyundai is expected to beat the new target easily as Hyundai has been a major beneficiary of Beijing’s stimulus measures with the Elantra compact car. Hyundai is adding another model, the i30, to take advantage of the steps,” Mihael Sohn, an auto analyst at Woori Investment & Securities, told the news agency.
Beijing Hyundai, a 50-50 joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry (a bidder for Opel), sold 257,003 cars in the first half of this year, up 56% from a year earlier, Hyundai said.
Beijing Hyundai plans to launch a China-exclusive model of the Sonata mid-sized sedan and the i30 hatchback in the second half of the year.
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