Hyundai's August sales down as strikes hit sales
03 Sep 2012
Hyundai and its union leaders last week reached a tentative wage deal, which approved in a vote on Monday, would allow the carmaker to avert further walkouts.
Hyundai Motor Co's total sales were down for the first time in over three years in August, hit by number of partial strikes at South Korean factories that affected domestic sales Reuters reports.
Workers struck work in July and August, their first walkout in four years and the South Korean automaker's second-costliest strike, as annual wage talks failed to clinch an agreement over pay, a new shift scheme as also other factors.
According to Reuters, Hyundai, the world's fifth largest carmaker along with affiliate Kia Motors, said it sold 293,924 vehicles globally last month, down 4.6 per cent as against a year earlier in the first fall since May 2009 following the global financial crisis.
Though domestic shipments were down 30 per cent, the company's overseas sales perked up 0.4 per cent.
Prior to the results, Hyundai shares were up 0.42 per cent, in line with the wider market's 0.4 per cent gain.
