South Korea: Hyundai Motor targets 47% of domestic market this year

Dow Jones Newswires (Seoul) - Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.SE), South Korea's No. 1 car maker by sales, said Monday it is targeting boosting its share of the domestic automobile market this year to 47% by focusing on giving better customer service.

"The Grandeur largesize sedan and the Avante sub compact are expected to remain the main catalyst boosting domestic sales throughout the year," a company spokesman said by telephone.

Hyundai launched the Avante subcompact late last year and the Grandeur sedan early this year.

The car maker sold 659,565 units in the domestic market last year to claim a share of 45%, the spokesman said. It sold 166,838 units in the three months ended March this year.

For 2011, Hyundai aims to sell 3.9 million units globally, up from 3.61 million last year.

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest carmaker by sales, is aiming for Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors Corp. (000270.SE) to sell a combined 6.33 million units this year, up from the previous year's 5.75 million units.