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Suzuki, Hyundai Lead Dec. Sales

It was a mixed bag for Orange County-based automaking units in December.

Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp., the U.S. arm of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., was the fastest-growing automaker, with sales up 28% to 6,662 autos in the month, versus a year earlier.

Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., a unit of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., saw sales rise 16% to 43,021 for the month.

Mazda North American Operations, an Irvine-based unit of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., sold 19,156 autos in December, up 8% from a year earlier.

But there were as many decliners in December.

Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. followed three up months with a decline last month.

Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp., logged a 13.2% sales decline in December.

The automaker, which has been working to reverse a past slump, sold 9,673 vehicles in the month.

Mitsubishi plans to launch a Eclipse Spyder convertible next month and an Outlander SUV in the fall, said David Schembri, executive vice president of sales and marketing, in a release.

Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. made the list of decliners again. Kia said sales last month dropped 6.6%, the third consecutive decline for the automaker. It sold 18,767 vehicles in December.

Kia had been posting sales growth of 5% to 10% earlier in 2005 before slowing to a 2% gain in September.

In October, Kia, an affiliate of South Korea’s Hyundai, replaced former U.S. chief Peter Butterfield with Len Hunt, who hailed from Volkswagen AG.

The automaker also is looking to build its first U.S. plant,possibly in Alabama, Mississippi or Kentucky.

Volvo Cars of North America LLC, the largest unit of Ford Motor Co.’s Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group, was the third decliner among locals.

Its December sales fell 25% to 9,111 vehicles.

Detroit’s Big Three automakers all posted sales declines last month. Toyota Motor Corp. recorded an 8.2% increase.

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