• Domestic first quarter sales up 19.1 pct to 141,970 units
• Overseas first quarter sales up 12.5 pct to 513,672 units

SEOUL, Korea, April 3, 2006 - Hyundai Motor Co.’s March sales at home and abroad reached a total of 246,126 units, equivalent to a 21.2 percent improvement over the same period last year. This brings the first quarter sales total to 655,642 units, up 13.9 percent year-over-year.

Domestic sales of passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were up 13.1 percent y-o-y to 51,462 units. Exports sales, including sales by overseas manufacturing subsidiaries and shipments abroad from Korean factories, were up 23.5 percent to 194,664 units.

Domestic Passenger Cars, Minivans & SUVs
The Sonata retained its crown as Korea’s best selling car for the second straight month, accounting for nearly a third of Hyundai’s Korean passenger car sales for the month as 9,249 units of the mid-sized family sedan were sold.

Total domestic passenger car sales reached 28,684 units, with the Grandeur /Azera and Elantra claiming second and third sales spots. Sales of sports utility vehicles were brisk thanks to the newly launched Santa Fe. A total of 8,148 SUVs and minivans were sold in March, up 8.5 percent over March ‘05. Total passenger car, SUV and minivan sales touched 36,832 units, up 14.4 percent over the comparable 2005 period.

Domestic Commercial Vehicles
Korean sales of commercial vehicles were up 10 percent y-o-y to 14,630 units. Bus sales rose 13.8 percent to 5,282 units and was matched by equally strong truck sales which were up 8 percent y-o-y to 9,348 units.

Overseas Sales
Export shipments from Hyundai’s three Korean plants reached 115,939 units in March, 16.6 percent higher than March ‘05 while output at overseas units in USA, Turkey, India and China continued to gather momentum. Hyundai’s four overseas manufacturing subsidiaries turned out 78,725 units in March, up 35.2 percent y-o-y. Total overseas sales (including CKD shipments), reached 194,664 units, up 23.5 percent y-o-y.

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group which includes Hyundai Mobis and over two dozen auto-related subsidiaries and affiliates. Employing over 68,000 people worldwide, Hyundai Motor posted US$27.383 billion in sales in 2005 (on a non-consolidated basis). Hyundai motor vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 5000 dealerships and showrooms. Hyundai Motor Co. is a sponsor of the 2006 FIFA Germany World Cup. Further information about Hyundai Motor Co. and its products is available at http://www.hyundai-motor.com/

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