By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea’s leading automaker duo Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are expected to accumulate global sales of a total of 100 million cars this month since first launching sales operations in 1962, a Hyundai official said.
The two companies’ sales record is believed to symbolize the country’s economic development, as the industry has played important roles in job creation, economic stimulation and tax contribution.
According to a Hyundai official, Monday, a total of 64 million Hyundai Motor and 35.8 million Kia Motors cars have been sold so far, ever since Kia Motors’ four-cylinder six-seater “Sibal” was first sold starting in 1962, and are expected to reach 100 million cars in total accumulated sales this month.
The automaker duo reached 10 million in car sales in 1993, and then it took 23 years to mark 100 million cars sold this month.
Of them, a total of 78.7 million cars have been sold since Hyundai Motor Group was established in 2000. The figure accounts for 79 percent of the group’s accumulated global auto sales.
The group first entered the world’s top ten automakers in sales with 24.3 million cars in 2000, and Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors jointly sold over 8 million cars in two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.
Of them, the two automakers’ foreign export sales accounted for 84 percent last year, overcoming the nation’s small domestic market ― the world’s tenth in size ― with annual sales of 1.83 million cars.
An industry insider said the sales record symbolizes the two companies’ contributions to the nation’s economy.
According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), a total of 1.83 million workers were directly or indirectly involved in the nation’s auto industry as of 2013, up 356,000 workers from the year 2001. The figure also accounted for 7.3 percent of Korea’s total 25 million employed workers.
The two companies’ exports reached 81.8 trillion won ($71.3 billion) in sales last year, accounting for 13.5 percent of the nation’s entire exports. The trade surplus was $55.9 billion.
The KAMA also said that the government collects 37.3 trillion won in automobile-related taxes every year, accounting for 14.7 percent of the country’s entire annual budget.