SEOUL: Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s leading automaking conglomerate, has recently put its Chinese production and sales divisions of its two affiliates under the same business line, in order to better compete with growing competition in the world’s largest auto market, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported industry sources as saying Tuesday.
According to the sources, Hyundai Motor Co’s Chinese production and sales units were placed under the control of the group’s Chinese business headquarters. Its affiliate Kia’s Chinese business division was also unified under the same headquarters.
The two companies’ Chinese production and sales businesses have been operated separately since July 2014.
Hyundai Motor Group’s business reshuffle is seen as a move to tide over a slump in the neighbouring country, the sources said.
During the first quarter, Hyundai Motor’s cumulative sales came to 229,011 units there, down 18.2 percent from the same period a year earlier, while Kia Motors posted a 10.4 percent decline by selling 138,292 units, the latest data showed.
Their combined sales in China declined in March, but the downward pace slowed significantly, showing signs of a possible rebound from a long-haul slump.
China is regarded as one of the most important markets for export-driven Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, which have been struggling to prop up their overseas sales due in part to slumping business there for months. -- Bernama