Asian Automakers See Sales Drops, Profits Squeezed

[AMERICA 123]

Originally Posted by Ming

Hyundai U.S. July sales drop 6.5%

By Wallace Witkowski
Last update: 2:33 p.m. EDT Aug. 1, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hyundai Motor America, a unit of Hyundai Motor Co. , said Friday that July U.S. sales fell 6.5% to 40,703 vehicles from a year ago. U.S. Sonata sales took a 22.9% hit in July with 11,409 units sold, with Elantra sales rising 31% to 10,454 units from last year.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...&dist=hplatest

Here is the other half for them.

http://www.kia.com/080108.php

KIA MOTORS AMERICA ANNOUNCES RECORD JULY SALES

IRVINE, Calif., August 1, 2008 – Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced its best July ever with record sales of 28,021 units, an increase of 5.0 percent over the same period last year, and year-to-date sales of 185,640 units, an increase of 2.5 percent over the same period last year.

Sportage had its best month of the year with 4,035 units, a 6.2 percent increase over the same period last year, while Spectra had strong sales of 5,910 units. Rio and Optima both had increases of 22.1 percent and 49.1 percent respectively over the same period last year with 3,707 and 6,258 units sold.

“For the fourth month in a row Kia has achieved record sales, something rare for the auto industry in 2008,“ said Byung Mo Ahn, group president and CEO of KMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG). “During this difficult economic time, consumers are looking for quality vehicles that are fuel efficient and offer great value – for this they are heading to Kia dealerships.” -

Kia Motors America (KMA) is the sales, marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 640 dealers throughout the United States. For 2007, KMA recorded its 14th consecutive year of record U.S. sales. -