Hyundai sales soar in October

Hyundai announces October sales...

Korean largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor Company, announced today that it has increased its new vehicle sales by 6,9% last month. October sales were higher on behalf of soaring domestic sales, as well as increasing overseas demand.

Hyundai reported October sales totaled 288.618 units last month. Sales in domestic market grew more than 25% to 66.458 units, while overseas sales rose 2,3% to 222.160 units. Hyundai told that domestic sales were boosted by the introduction of new Tucson ix crossover and Sonata YF, which has been on sale in Korea since mid-September.

In addition to October sales numbers, Hyundai also announced it has finally signed a final contract to set up a US$33.8 million joint venture to produce lithium-ion car batteries with LG Chem Ltd.

The Korean car-maker will begin production of lithium-ion car batteries in the second half of 2010. The venture is expected to help Hyundai to speed up its efforts to increase the presence in the rapidly growing market of low-polluting vehicles. Hyundai has already revealed it plans to release new fuel-efficient models, including a variety of hybrid cars, as well as electric cars within next three years.