Hyundai Motor announced Monday its world rally team won the FIA World Rally Championship race in Argentina last week and secured their first win for individual competition this season.

It is also the first win for its new generation i20 World Rally Car, according to the company.

“I’m really happy and thrilled to have won the competitive rally in Argentina. I will continue to try hard to improve my performance so that the new generation i20 WRC’s maximum potential can come out,” said Hayden Paddon, the tournament champion.

Paddon won the first individual championship race for Hyundai, showing a terrific performance that boosted the group performance altogether, the automaker said.

It is the second time the team has won the group competition, following the win at the Monte Carlo Rally in January.

In addition, Hyundai’s other drivers Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville placed fourth and sixth for the individual competition, respectively.

“Our team performance has gone up since we started to drive the new i20 rally car. And we’re expecting to see good results this season,” said team leader Michel Nandan.

By Hong Sung-pyo (hong1@heraldcorp.com)