Hyundai Motor India`s Q3 profit falls on lower domestic car sales, exports
Hyundai Motor India, the country's second-biggest carmaker by market share, reported a 19% fall in its third-quarter profit on Tuesday, hurt by lower domestic sales and exports.
The company, which makes the 'Creta' SUV and 'Grand i10' and 'i20' hatchbacks, said its consolidated profit dropped to 11.61 billion rupees ($134.2 million) in the quarter, from 14.25 billion rupees a year ago.
Total car sales fell 2.4% year-over-year, which dragged revenue down by 1.3% to 166.48 billion rupees.
Hyundai Motor's exports slid 7.5% in the quarter, as the Red Sea crisis continued to impact exports to the Middle East, one of its largest markets.
The company sells just over three-fourths of its cars in India, one of the largest markets for the parent company Hyundai outside South Korea and where its 14% market share trails only Maruti Suzuki's 40%.
Here, Hyundai's car sales dipped 0.1% in the quarter, in sharp contrast to the 4.5% increase in the country's overall passenger vehicle sales.
Sales of its higher-margin SUVs -- India's favourite car type and which forms over 60% of Hyundai's sales -- rose 4%, a sharp deterioration from a 34.5% growth in the year-ago quarter but reversing from a 0.5% drop in the previous quarter.
Analysts have said that besides slowing SUV sales, higher discounts have also dwindled Hyundai's margins, which declined sharply to 11.3% from 12.9% a year before.
Rivals Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors will report their December quarter results on Wednesday. ($1 = 86.5020 Indian rupees)
