Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America led a rise in automotive sales for some of the county’s automakers last month.
Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., saw a 40% gain in vehicle sales in December from a year earlier.
Hyundai, the largest automaker with operations here, sold 33,797 vehicles last month.
The automaker’s luxury Genesis set the tone for the month recording an all-time sales record for December, according to Hyundai.
The automaker’s sales for 2009 rose 8%, making Hyundai one of the few automakers to see sales up in what was the worst year in recent memory for the industry.
Hyundai sold 435,064 vehicles last year.
“Our ability to outperform the general market every single month during 2009 and achieve what we believe to be the biggest market share gain in the industry was a real feat during these difficult market conditions,” said Dave Zuchowski, vice president of sales at Hyundai Motor America.
The automaker is primed to start 2010 with two vehicle launches including the Sonata sedan and Tucson sports utility vehicle.
Kia Motors America Inc. of Irvine, sister company to Hyundai, also saw sales up in December.
The automaker, also part of Seoul-based Hyundai, was up 43% from a year earlier with 21,048 vehicles sold last month.
The automaker’s newer models, including Soul midsize SUV, Forte sedan and Forte Koup coupe, led the sales numbers.
Through December, Kia’s sales were up 9.8% to 300,063 vehicles.
Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations saw December sales rise 1.6% to 18,255 vehicles sold.
Mazda, part of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., said yearly sales were down 21.3% with 207,767 vehicles sold compared to year earlier.
Decembers figures suggest the auto industry might be on the mend after a prolonged downturn, even though weak consumer confidence and rising unemployment could make any recovery slow.
Analyst are mostly in agreement that the U.S. will enjoy at least some degree of improvement in 2010 with many expecting total sales to jump to 11.4 million vehicles to be sold in 2010.
Earlier in the decade, the industry was topping sales of 17 million vehicles.
