Car sales in April showed mixed results across the nation’s five carmakers, with Hyundai and Kia leading the pack, largely boosted by their newest models.

Hyundai Motor sold 407,666 vehicles globally in April, including 58,365 in Korea and 349,301 in overseas markets, up 9.7 percent from the same period last year.

Despite reduced production following the union’s refusal to work on weekends, sport utility vehicles, such as the Santa Fe and Maxcruze, saw 5.2 percent growth in domestic sales.

In overseas markets, the carmaker saw a 10.5 percent increase in car sales from a year ago, led by enhanced production at factories in Brazil and China.

Hyundai saw its accumulated global car sales since its foundation in 1967 surpass the 50-million mark for the first time last month.

The best-selling car was the Avante compact with 8.64 million sales, followed by the Sonata with 6.5 million and the Accent with 6.3 million.

Hyundai’s affiliate Kia Motors also said its sales jumped 8.7 percent in April from a year earlier due to robust sales abroad.

Kia sold 252,689 vehicles in April, compared with 232,520 units in 2012, the company said in a statement.

Its domestic sales edged up 1.4 percent on-year to 40,554 vehicles in April, while overseas sales increased 10.2 percent to 212,135 units, according to the carmaker.

GM Korea, the Korean unit of U.S.-based General Motors, saw its monthly sales decline 4.6 percent from a year ago.

GM Korea sold 58,899 vehicles in April, compared with 61,732 units sold a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales dropped 21.8 percent on-year to 10,260 vehicles in the month, while exports of complete vehicles went up slightly to 48,639 units from 48,619 units.

GM Korea said it expected sales to rebound in May, citing the positive consumer response to its Chevrolet lineup, including the recently launched G2 Cruze, Aveo, Malibu, Trax, Captiva and Orlando, as well as the Alpheon.

Renault Samsung Motors said it sold 10,871 vehicles last month, a 21.3 percent decline from a year ago. Its domestic and overseas sales decreased by 11.5 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

Considering the minus growth rate once soared to 38 percent in January, the figure has been cut almost in half over the past four months, the carmaker said.

Ssangyong Motor, the nation’s smallest carmaker, said its car sales were 5,115 in Korea and 7,492 abroad last month. The total 12,607 sales were the highest monthly sales figure since December 2006, the carmaker said.

By Lee Ji-yoon and news reports
(jylee@heraldcorp.com)