Hyundai sees strong growth in '08

World's sixth-largest automaker says it will generate $49B in revenue this year despite concerns about U.S. economic weakness.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hyundai Motor Co. forecast a double-digit increase in sales for 2008 on expanded overseas production and stronger marketing.
Global sales this year will total 3.11 million vehicles, an increase of 19.6 percent from 2007, Hyundai said in a statement Wednesday.
That will generate 46 trillion won ($49 billion) in revenue in 2008, the company said, an increase of 12.2 percent from the year before.
"We must maximize our sales and marketing efforts in order to get closer to our customers, to grow the brand and improve profitability," Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo told employees in a New Year's address Wednesday.
Sales grew 4.1 percent to 2.6 million vehicles in 2007, Hyundai said.
Some analysts said Hyundai may be too optimistic given the impact of the broadening mortgage crisis in the United States. Defaults on high-risk housing loans have tightened global credit and opened the possibility the U.S. may slip into a recession this year.
Yong Dae-in, an analyst at Hanwha Securities, said he expects Hyundai sales to come in at about 2.6 million vehicles this year, similar to last year.
"I think Mr. Chung's comments today (were) for journalists and to push their marketing department," he said.
Yet other foreign carmakers, including Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) of Japan, are predicting sales growth in the U.S, despite energy prices, the housing slump and edgy consumers that did not show up in force during the traditional holiday season.
Hyundai, along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp., (KIMTF) is the world's sixth-largest automaker and has ambitions to crack the top five by 2010.
The companies are expanding aggressively overseas. Hyundai already has plants in China, India, Turkey and the United States and is building another in the Czech Republic.
A second factory in India, which started production last year, is expected to hit full capacity early in 2008, said Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang. Hyundai's second Chinese plant will start up in May, he said.
Hyundai, which has been seeking to raise its profile, is for the first time an official sponsor of the Super Bowl, to be played Feb. 3.
As part of an image makeover, the company plans to introduce the Genesis, a new luxury car meant to compete with the likes of Toyota's Lexus.
The vehicle is set to go on sale in South Korea this month, with launches in China and the United States during the first half of the year, Hyundai said last month.
Kia, meanwhile, expects sales of 1.7 million vehicles in 2008, for a gain of about 24 percent over last year.
The company has two factories in China, one in Slovakia and is building another in the United States.