Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. and other local automakers saw declines in August sales as part of a larger industry hiccup resulting from the government’s “cash for clunkers” program a year ago.
Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, saw an 11% decline from a year earlier to 53,603 vehicles sold in August.
It marks the first decline in sales for the automaker after nearly 20 consecutive months of growth.
Hyundai set sales records in August 2009 with several of its vehicle models qualifying under the government’s “cash for clunkers” program, which allowed consumers to trade in older vehicles for newer fuel-efficient models.
For the 12 months through August, Hyundai, the largest automaker with operations here, sold 363,491 vehicles, up 17%.
Even with a decline in monthly sales from a year earlier, Hyundai grew its market share to 5.3% from nearly 4% a year ago, as its sales fell less than other automakers.
“Even with the erratic stock market, sluggish home sales and faltering consumer confidence over the past several months, Hyundai continues to significantly outperform the industry and gain market share,” said Dave Zuchowski, vice president of national sales at Hyundai.
Sister company Irvine’s Kia Motors America Inc. saw a 19% decline in sales with 32,465 vehicles sold last month.
For the 12 months through August, Kia sold 237,953 vehicles, up 9.7%.
Hyundai and Kia were the stars of the auto industry’s recent downturn, the worst the industry’s seen since the 1970s.
Automakers across the board saw declines last month from a year earlier due to their participation in the government clunker program.
Toyota Motor Corp. was down 31%. Honda Motor Co. was down 33%. Ford Motor Co. was down 11% and General Motors Co. was down 11%.
Irvine-based Mazda North American Oper-ations, part of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., saw a 25.6% decline to 19,739 in August vehicle sales.
For the 12 months through August, sales were up 7% to 156,190 autos.
Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp., was down 37% to 4,293 autos sold in July.
Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp. continued its slump with a 68% drop to August sales of 1,830 vehicles.
The automaker, part of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., has been one of the hardest hit in the industry with sales through July down 52% to 15,331 autos.
