Hyundai, Kia and other Korean carmakers report February 2012 sales

New car sales in South Korea soar 28 percent in February 2012!

Four out of five South Korean carmakers, including Kia Motors, Hyundai Motor Company, GM Korea and Ssangyong Motor reported a 28 percent increase in February sales.

Renault Samsung was the only exception with domestic sales declining from the same month a year ago.

Overall sales of the 5 South Korean carmakers soared 28 percent thanks to increased demand for new cars at home and abroad. The combined sales of the South Korean automakers rose to 689,915 uits last month, compared with 537.631 units sold in February 2011.

While domestic sales only soared 5.6 percent year-on-year for a total of 112,905 units in February 2012, the overseas shipments hit 577,010 units - up 34 percent from a year ago.

Kia sales February 2012 increased a 35.5 percent year-on-year to 240.124 vehicles last month, while Hyundai February sales totaled 360,979 units in February 2012 ( compared to 281,284 units sold in February 2011).

GM Korea, which produces and sells new vehicles under the Chevrolet brand, and Ssangyong Motor, both reported a double digit growth last month. Renault Samsung was the sole carmaker reporting a sligh decrease in sales last month.

Renault Samsung February 2012 sales decreased 2.4 percent from a year earlier. The carmaker reported 16,987 deliveries last month, compared with 17,408 deliveries a year earlier.

China: Hyundai sales report for the month of January 2012

Hyundai's January 2012 sales in China top 53.500 units!

According to latest sales statistics coming from China, the world's most populated market, Hyundai Motor Company recorded sales of 53.500 units in january.

Hyundai was the fifth best-selling automobile brand in China last month following only Shanghai VW, Shanghai GM, FAW-VW and Dongfeng Nissan.

Leading Hyundai's China sales in january 2012 was the new Verna sub-compact sedan, which is also known as Hyundai Accent in the USA and Canada. Hyundai Verna sales increased 60 percent from a year ago and exceeded 17.000 units sales mark.

The popular Verna sedan was followed by Hyundai Sonata mid-size sedan which recorded sales of  8.006 units in january 2012. Hyundai Sonata sales have been consitently exceeding 6.000 units sales mark over the past couple of months with sales crossing the 10.000 units mark in September last year.

Other Hyundai models that performed pretty well last month include the ix35 crossover, know also as Hyundai Tucson in the States and Hyundai Elantra compact sedan. Thanks to high demand in China, the Elantra sedan was ranked the second-best selling vehicle in the world at the end of 2011.

The Hyundai Elantra has been out of the top 10 best selling cars in the world in the years of 2009 and 2010, but became the second-best selling vehicle on the planet in 2011. With worldwide sales of 1.01 million units last year it was ranked only 10.000 units below the Toyota Corolla, the top seller in 2011!

Hyundai Shouwang Concept Car

Hyundai unveiled its first-ever locally developed car model at an international motor show in China, last week.

Codenamed BHCD-1, the vehicle was developed with an aim to grab more attention of the consumers living in the world’s largest automobile market.

The car is still in concept form, but it was revealed already that Hyundai plans a serial production with release date set for late 2012 or early 2013.

We have already reported that Hyundai aims to develop a new sub-brand which will be marketed exclusively in China. The new brand will offer locally developed car models that will suit to Chinese consumer's demands better than existing models.

And the car we see on the images below will be a part of the new local brand!

Called the “Shouwang”, the mid-size sedan is being displayed at the ninth annual Guangzhou International Motor Show. Reportedly, the car is based on Hyundai Elantra and shares its major powertrain technology with the popular C-segment car from Hyundai.

However, a top official at Beijing Automotive Co., a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai and Beijing Automotive Co, revealed that the Shouwang will, once it gets into production, also get an exclusive all-electric powertrain. This could happen as early as within a year or two.

When Hyundai puts it on sale, the Shouwang will be the very-first mass produced Hyundai vehicle in China.

There are no other technical details available at this point...

Hyundai Shouwang image gallery:

Hyundai Azera 2012

Hyundai introduces 2012 Azera sedan at the ongoing Los Angeles International Auto Show!

On the heels of record US sales, Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a brand-new Azera near-luxury sedan today. The stylish front-wheel-drive Hyundai sedan, which replaces the slow-selling predecessor, is displayed at the 2011 L.A. Auto Show alongside other Hyundai vehicles, including new Accent hatch, Elantra sedan and Hyundai Sonata hybrid.

The new Hyundai Azera 2012 is more stylish than the outgoing model and features Hyundai's "Fluidic Sculpture" design language.

It sports sophisticated exterior look and comfortable interior, along with more powerful 3,3L GDI Lambda V6 engine, mated to the in-house developed six-speed automatic transmission, and best-in-segment fuel economy.

The all-new Hyundai Azera 2012 Model Year fuel economy is rated at 20 mpg city / 29 mpg highway and 23 mpg combined. This is better than with many of its main rivals, including Ford Taurus, Nissan Maxima and even Lexus ES350.

The 2012 Hyundai Azera also features latest safety equipment which includes 9 air-bags. Previous generation Azera "only" had six of them, while the new model offers three more. The most interesting one is a driver's knee airbag!

Other safety features on the 2012 Hyundai near-luxury sedan include standard VSM, ESC, TCS, ABS with Brake Assist and EBD systems. In addition, the all-new Azera hosts a plethora of luxury features such as HID Xenon headlights with LED accents, ventilated front seats, navigation system with rearview camera and many others.

The new Hyundai Azera is scheduled to go on sale in the USA early next year. First model will start arriving to Hyundai dealerships already in February 2012.

Hyundai Azera 2012 video: