JEDDAH, 6 April 2006 — Korean cars have marked a 20-25 percent increase in the Saudi and Gulf market over the last few years, a Korean car manufacturer said on Tuesday night.

“In 2005, we sold 465,000 Hyundai cars across Saudi Arabia, as against 31,000 in 2004,” Pil Hwan Hwang, Hyundai’s Dubai-based manager for Africa and Middle East told Arab News on the sidelines of the opening of a new exclusive showroom for Hyundai’s luxury cars jointly owned by Mohamed Yousuf Al-Naghi Motors and Hyundai Motor Company on Tahlia Road.

Korean cars have strengthened their presence in the Kingdom and the rest of the Gulf in the markets dominated by Japanese cars and to a lesser extent by American and European vehicles.

What has contributed to the increasing appeal of Korean cars, and especially Hyundai, in this part of the world is the improvement in their quality. “Our quality of product has improved a lot over the last 10 years, and of course our pricing strategy has also played its part despite fluctuations in dollar-won exchange rates,” Hwang said.

The South Korean car manufacturer aims to be among the world’s top five carmakers by 2010. Hyundai’s domestic sales have also been continuously rising. Sales are expected to maintain the first quarter’s rising trend in the second quarter, when seasonal factors usually boost demand for cars.

The company sold 655,642 units in the first quarter of 2006, 13.9 percent higher than a year ago, broken down to a 19.1 percent gain in domestic sales and a 12.5 percent increase in exports. Hyundai and other South Korean carmakers posted a combined 24 percent rise in March sales from a year ago as healthy exports and new models helped offset the impact of a firmer won currency.

Sustained growth in exports is expected to drive South Korea’s auto sales as manufacturers focus more on sales abroad amid concerns over a possible slowdown in a recovery in domestic consumer spending.

“Overall demand for cars in the world is still OK, but South Korean auto makers’ profitability is not OK due to a stronger won,” another Hyundai executive said.