Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's leading automaker, reported a decrease in its first-quarter net profit by 1.3 percent on-year due to a slowdown in sales. The net profit for the January-March period came to 3.37 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) on a consolidated basis, compared with a profit of 3.41 trillion won a year ago. The company's sales rose 7.6 percent to a record 40.65 trillion won.

The company sold 1,006,767 vehicles globally in the first quarter of 2024, down 1.5 percent from the same period last year. The slowdown in sales was attributed to the temporary shutdown of production lines at its Asan plant in South Korea, carried out as part of Hyundai's upcoming new car launch preparations.

Sales of Hyundai's eco-friendly vehicles fell 4.8 percent to 153,519 units, reflecting the recent slowdown of global electric vehicle (EV) demand. Despite ongoing uncertainties in the business environment due to persisting high interest rates and geopolitical risks emanating from the Middle East, as well as increased exchange rate volatility, Hyundai has maintained a stable profitability of over 8 percent.

Hyundai anticipated that higher costs from increasing competition would pose a potential risk factor for future business operations. Additionally, it anticipated continued unpredictability due to the escalating geopolitical risks and increasing macroeconomic uncertainties in emerging markets.

The South Korean company said it plans to focus on enhancing sales of eco-friendly cars through the expansion of its Ioniq EV lineup and that of other hybrid models. It will also aim to maximize sales by optimizing its production pipeline and expand its market share by improving its mix of product categories centered around SUVs and premium models.