Hyundai aims for '12 sales record
2012-01-02 09:31
SWEET SONG OF SUCCESS: Hyundai's Sonata when it was launched in late 2010 - just one of the models that has boosted the automaker's sales worldwide.
SEOUL, South Korea - Hyundai wants to sell a record seven million cars worldwide in 2012 by strengthening production and sales abroad to outpace competitors amid the global slowdown.
Group chairman Chung Mong-Koo, in a New Year's message to employees, said the world's auto industry would see growth stagnate this year and competition intensify as the downturn cuts demand.
FIFTH-LARGEST
"We should lay the groundwork to become a global leading player by firming up management," he said, calling for closer cooperation between its sales and production networks abroad.
Hyundai, South Korea's largest automaker, and its smaller affiliate Kia together form the world's fifth-largest carmaking group by sales with 6.6-million cars delivered worldwide in 2011. It has 30 overseas plants in nine countries, including new factories in Beijing and Brazil.
"We will continually expand investment... to develop environmentally friendly vehicles and secure the latest technologies in electronics engineering," he added.
