Hyundai July US Car Sales Surge But Inventory Constrained

Hyundai Motor Co. (Seul: 005380) reported on Wednesday July U.S. car sales up 4 percent to 62,021 vehicles, the company's best July ever despite constrained inventory for the Korean automaker.

"July was another solid month for Hyundai with surging consumer demand dampened a bit by ongoing shortages of core products like Accent, Elantra and Sonata," Hyundai Executive VP of Sales Dave Zuchowski said Wednesday.

Sales declined slightly in July for the Accent, Santa Fe and Genesis, but the rest of Hyundai's line of vehicles more than made up for the losses.

While the industry average inventory is around 65 selling days, Hyundai has an inventory of less than half that with just 27 selling days worth of vehicles. Hyundai is preparing to ramp up production at its plant in Alabama by adding a third shift to boost inventory in August. Moreover, the company will soon ship its new Santa Fe vehicle produced in Georgia.

The expanded production in the Southern U.S. should help Hyundai "meet demand for our core products in the coming months," Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik said.

Year-to-date sales for Hyundai are up 9.5 percent.