The auto industry’s slump worsened in December for automakers with operations in Orange County.
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., the county’s largest automaker, saw sales slump to the lowest level in more than three years in December.
Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., sold 24,037 vehicles last month, down 48% from a year earlier. It’s a worsening slump for the automaker, which saw November sales fall 40%.
A silver lining for Hyundai was a rise in sales of sedans and smaller cars, which were up nearly 25% from November.
Until recently, Hyundai had been faring better than other automakers in what is the worst industry downturn in more than 15 years.
For all of 2008, Hyundai’s sales were down 13% to 401,742.
For the past months, Hyundai’s declines have fallen in line with or exceeded those of the overall industry.
The company rolled out an incentive plan Monday that would allow auto buyers to break contracts and return vehicles if they lose their job or income.
Irvine-based Kia Motor America Inc., also part of Hyundai Motor, saw December sales fall 39% from a year earlier to 14,644 vehicles.
For the year, Kia sales were down 10% to 273,297 vehicles.
Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America was down 22% to 4,570 vehicles sold last month.
Mitsubishi, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motor Corp., saw sales fall 24% in 2008 to 97,257 vehicles.
Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations saw sales decline with 17,965 vehicles sold in December, down 27% from a year prior.
This December represented the automaker’s best sales month since August.
Mazda, part of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., saw sales fall 11% to 263,949 vehicles sold in 2008.
The big three automakers, General Motors Corp, Toyota Motor Cor. and Ford Motor Corp., reported sales decline of more than 30% for December.
The industry is reeling from the credit crunch and a dramatic decrease in consumer spending.
