Hyundai Motor to focus on small cars in U.S.

SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker,
said Thursday it will focus its resources on selling compact cars in the United
States this year to cope with a sharp decline in sales.
Hyundai saw its vehicle sales last year drop 14 percent from a year earlier to
401,742 units in the recession-hit U.S. auto market. Despite the sales decline,
Hyundai's U.S. market share rose to 3.3 percent.
Hyundai attributed the gain in U.S. market share to robust demand in the
compact-car sector, which is well positioned to weather the fallout from an
economic recession.
Sales of Hyundai's compact Verna model jumped 39.9 percent from a year ago in
2008, totaling 50,431 units in the U.S.
"It's noteworthy that sales of compact cars rose despite worsening market
conditions," said an official at Hyundai. "We will step up efforts to sell
compact cars."
The U.S. is Hyundai's largest overseas market.
Since early this month, Hyundai began offering a generous incentive program that
allows U.S. customers experiencing financial difficulties to return their
vehicles free of charge.
Under the program, U.S. buyers of Hyundai vehicles who can't make their payments
due to layoffs, personal bankruptcy or accidental health issues can return their
vehicles within a year of purchase, Hyundai said.
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