Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest carmaker, fell the most since Sept. 16 in Seoul trading after the company announced a recall of about 139,500 Sonata sedans in the U.S. because of a steering fault.
The shares dropped 1.9 percent to 158,500 won on the Korea Exchange as of 10:44 a.m., after earlier falling as much as 2.5 percent, the most since Sept. 16. The benchmark Kospi stock index rose 0.5 percent.
Sonata models manufactured between Dec. 11, 2009, and Sept. 10, 2010, are subject to the recall, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement on its website. Hyundai Motor America informed the agency it’s voluntarily initiating a safety recall the sedans to inspect the steering due to a defect that can cause a loss of, or reduction in, maneuvering capability, South Korea’s biggest automaker said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
“It’s a recall of Hyundai’s flagship model, so it sounds negative,” said Yim Eun Young, a Seoul-based analyst at Dongbu Securities Co. “Still, I expect a limited negative impact to the sales of Sonata in the U.S. since it’s a voluntary recall.”
Hyundai’s action follows Toyota Motor Corp.’s recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide in the past year for defects including pedals that stuck or snagged on floor mats. Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp. this month said that Jeong Sung Eun resigned as vice chairman to take responsibility for the recent recall of four of its models.
Fewer Than 10 Vehicles
Hyundai said there were fewer than 10 vehicles with the steering issues and no accidents or injuries have occurred as a result of this condition. The automaker, based in Seoul, is expected to begin the recall in October, according to the U.S. agency, which opened a preliminary probe into steering problems with the model in August.
The company’s U.S. sales rose 17 percent in the first eight months of the year, led by demand for the revamped Sonata and new Tucson crossover vehicle. The growth is more than double the 8.4 percent increase in industry-wide deliveries through August, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata Corp.
Hyundai’s sales in the U.S., its third-largest market, should surpass a long-time target of 500,000 units this year, and the company may set an “all-time record” for U.S. deliveries in September owing to demand for its Sonata sedan, John Krafcik, the company’s U.S. chief executive officer, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Sept. 16.
--With assistance from Saeromi Shin in Seoul. Editors: Ian Rowley, Jonathan Annells.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sookyung Seo in Seoul at sseo10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-26/hyundai-motor-falls-after-u-s-recall-of-139-500-sonata-sedans.html
The shares dropped 1.9 percent to 158,500 won on the Korea Exchange as of 10:44 a.m., after earlier falling as much as 2.5 percent, the most since Sept. 16. The benchmark Kospi stock index rose 0.5 percent.
Sonata models manufactured between Dec. 11, 2009, and Sept. 10, 2010, are subject to the recall, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement on its website. Hyundai Motor America informed the agency it’s voluntarily initiating a safety recall the sedans to inspect the steering due to a defect that can cause a loss of, or reduction in, maneuvering capability, South Korea’s biggest automaker said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
“It’s a recall of Hyundai’s flagship model, so it sounds negative,” said Yim Eun Young, a Seoul-based analyst at Dongbu Securities Co. “Still, I expect a limited negative impact to the sales of Sonata in the U.S. since it’s a voluntary recall.”
Hyundai’s action follows Toyota Motor Corp.’s recalls of more than 8 million vehicles worldwide in the past year for defects including pedals that stuck or snagged on floor mats. Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp. this month said that Jeong Sung Eun resigned as vice chairman to take responsibility for the recent recall of four of its models.
Fewer Than 10 Vehicles
Hyundai said there were fewer than 10 vehicles with the steering issues and no accidents or injuries have occurred as a result of this condition. The automaker, based in Seoul, is expected to begin the recall in October, according to the U.S. agency, which opened a preliminary probe into steering problems with the model in August.
The company’s U.S. sales rose 17 percent in the first eight months of the year, led by demand for the revamped Sonata and new Tucson crossover vehicle. The growth is more than double the 8.4 percent increase in industry-wide deliveries through August, according to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey-based Autodata Corp.
Hyundai’s sales in the U.S., its third-largest market, should surpass a long-time target of 500,000 units this year, and the company may set an “all-time record” for U.S. deliveries in September owing to demand for its Sonata sedan, John Krafcik, the company’s U.S. chief executive officer, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Sept. 16.
--With assistance from Saeromi Shin in Seoul. Editors: Ian Rowley, Jonathan Annells.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sookyung Seo in Seoul at sseo10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net
source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-26/hyundai-motor-falls-after-u-s-recall-of-139-500-sonata-sedans.html
0 komentar:
Post a Comment