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Hyundai sales rise by 2%
Hyundai Motor sold 9,522 vehicles in the domestic market in February.
Vehicle sales at Hyundai Motor India Ltd. India's second-biggest car maker, rose only 2 per cent in February, impacted by an industry-wide slowdown in sales, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The wholly owned subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co said it sold 9,522 vehicles in the domestic market in February.
"The auto industry overall witnessed a slowdown in February because customers deferred purchases, expecting a post-budget fall in prices of vehicles," said BVR Subbu, president of Hyundai Motor India.
The budget included some import duty cuts, which the company is studying to determine the impact on prices of its sedans.
The auto maker, in India since October 1998, makes the Santro and Getz hatchbacks and the Accent, Elantra and Sonata sedans at its car plant on the outskirts of Madras in southern India.
It imports the Terracan sports utility vehicle fully built from South Korea, and uses India as an export hub for small cars.
Hyundai said its domestic sales in February included 5,881 units of the Santro, 1,166 units of the Getz, 2,235 Accents, 183 Elantras and 53 Sonatas. It also sold 4 Terracans.
Exports, at 6,264 units, rose 60 per cent on the year.
Hyundai's main competitors in the Indian market include top-ranked Maruti Udyog Ltd which is majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp local firm Tata Motors Ltd.
