Hyundai Motor sees record March for U.S. sales

Hyundai Motor Co expects to post a record for March U.S. sales on strong demand for its new flagship Sonata sedan, its U.S. chief executive said on Wednesday.

The South Korean automaker likely sold about 47,000 to 48,000 vehicles in the U.S. market in March, up as much as 18 percent from a year earlier when it sold 40,700 units, U.S. CEO John Krafcik said at the New York Auto Show. Hyundai launched the revamped Sonata mid-size sedan in February.

"Our March sales are fantastic. The only problem was we ran out of cars at the end of the month," Krafcik said. "We've got a lot of positive feeling about our sales momentum."

Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp were the only major automakers to increase U.S. sales in 2009, when industry-wide sales fell 21 percent to their lowest level in 27 years.

Last month, Hyundai executives said the automaker wanted to increase its share of the U.S. market this year to 4.5 percent from 4.2 percent in 2009. Its 2008 market share was 3 percent.

Hyundai and other automakers are due to announce U.S. March sales results on Thursday.

U.S. auto sales are expected to have surged in March when Toyota Motor Corp offered deep discounts after a series of recalls and competitors responded with strong incentives.

Krafcik said Hyundai has stayed away from the industry-wide discounting spree, reducing incentive spending in March from February. Hyundai's U.S. market share still rose to the highest level of the year at nearly 5 percent, he said.

"We've done that in a month that Toyota has gained back about 5 percentage points of retail market share from February to March," Krafcik said.

"I'm somewhat sensitive about people saying that Hyundai's gains have come because Toyota has issues. Our gains have come because we've got fantastic products and great marketing programs."

At the auto show, Hyundai unveiled a hybrid version of the Sonata sedan, its first hybrid offering for U.S. consumers.

Krafic said the company does not foresee a high sales volume for the car, slated to hit U.S. showrooms at the end of 2010.

"For a lot of people it (hybrid) is almost a technological calling card. For us more than anything else, it's a demonstration of technology," Krafcik said.