Hyundai Motor to cut prices of four models

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's No. 1 automaker, said Sunday that it will lower prices of four models by up to 1 million won (US$876) this week in a bid to boost sales in the country.

The four models subject to the price cut effective on Monday include the i40 Saloon D-Spec and the Grandeur 3.3 Celebrity, said the company.

Hyundai Motor also cut prices of five models in January this year by up to 1 million won.

In the first half of the year, Hyundai Motor and four other carmakers sold a combined 677,300 units in South Korea, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier.

Hyundai Motor also suffered a 0.8 percent on-year decline in its domestic sales in the first six months of the year, beset by sluggish consumer spending and its unionized workers' boycott of weekend shifts.

Brisk overseas sales, however, offset tepid domestic sales, helping the automaker weather the global economic slowdown and the Japanese currency's slide.

In the first half, its combined sales reached 2.38 million units, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier, Hyundai Motor said earlier. (Yonhap)