Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading automaker, said Thursday that it joined the list of the top 10 car sellers in Mexico in the first four months of the year.
Hyundai Motor said that it sold a cumulative 6,483 vehicles in Mexico during the January-April period, which accounted for 1.6 percent of the total sales in the country.
The automaker surpassed Japan’s Suzuki to become the 10th largest in terms of market share there.
It is the first time for Hyundai Motor to rank among the top 10 vendors since it entered the market in May last year by launching its local branch.
During the May-December period of last year, it sold a total of 12,604 vehicles. Its market share stood at 1.1 percent, the 11th largest among carmakers there.
“Sales remain relatively small, but they are on a steady rise,” a Hyundai official said. “Mexico is a huge market, and we will continue to work on raising our presence.”
Hyundai Motor expects that if the current trends continue, its annual sales in Mexico will likely top 20,000 units this year.
The automaker did not break down sales figures for each vehicle. Its major vehicle models being sold in Mexico include the Elantra, known here as the Avante, and the iX35, known in Korea as the Tucson.
Last year, a total of 1.14 million vehicles were sold in Mexico. Nissan, General Motors and Volkswagen reportedly commanded around 60 percent of the market. (Yonhap)
