Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., Kia Motors America Inc of Irvine and other Orange County-based automakers saw auto sales rally in large part because of the government’s $3 billion “cash for clunkers” program.
Hyundai, part of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., saw a 47% gain in vehicle sales last month from a year earlier and set a sales record for the company.
Hyundai, the largest automaker with operations here, sold 60,467 vehicles last month compared to the 41,130 vehicles sold the same time a year earlier.
The automaker’s Elantra was one of the most popular autos purchased under the program with 21,673 sold last month, a 53% gain over a year earlier.
Hyundai had an aggressive marketing campaign, including its Hyundai Assurance program that allowed buyers to return their autos after a job loss and its gas lock program that allows consumers to get a year of gas at a set price.
The automaker even matched the government’s money with some of its own rebates.
Hyundai reported it has nearly corrected it yearlong decline with 310,706 vehicles sold year-to-date compared to the 312,899 vehicles sold last year.
“August was a shot in the arm for the industry and a great month for Hyundai and our dealers with an all-time sales record for the Hyundai brand,” said John Krafcik, chief executive at Hyundai’s U.S. headquarters, in a release.
Kia, sister company to Hyundai, also saw a record sales month in August.
The automaker, also part of Seoul-based Hyundai, was up 60% from a year earlier with 40,198 vehicles sold last month.
Kia beat last year’s numbers with 216,947 vehicles sold year-to-date compared to 210,705 vehicles a year earlier.
Hyundai and Kia weren’t the only automakers to benefit from the government’s clunker program.
Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations reported its best month for the year and best August since 2003.
The automaker saw sales gain 12% to 26,542 vehicles sold in August compared to a year earlier.
Mazda, part of Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp., said sales were down 26% year to date with 145,955 vehicles sold.
Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp. said its August sales declined 5% to 5,749 vehicles from 6,081 vehicles a year earlier.
It’s quite a turnaround for the automaker that saw sales in July decline 57% compared to a year earlier.
American Suzuki, part of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp., has been hit hard by the auto slump with sales to date down 55% to 31,793 vehicles versus the 70,431 vehicles sold at the same time last year.
The cash for clunkers program allowed consumers to take advantage a federal rebate of up to $4,500 for trading in autos with poor gas mileage for new autos with better miles per gallon.
Nearly 700,000 old autos were traded in for new ones under the program and totaled about $2.9 billion of the $3 billion allocated for the program, according to Department of Transportation.
The program is believed to have boosted economic growth in the third quarter by 0.3% to 0.4% thanks to the increased auto sales, according to The White House Council of Economic Advisors.
