SEOUL, KOREA- Hyundai Motor saw its sales grow in the first half of this year thanks to its strong performance in the global marketplace. However, its profitability worsened due to sluggish domestic demand and the delay in production caused by the labor union’s resistance to overtime work on weekends.

The company announced on July 25 that it posted sales of 44.55 trillion won and an operating profit of 4.27 trillion won for the first half. Sales revenue grew by 5.8 percent year on year but operating profits fell by 7.7 percent, with its sales-to-operating profit ratio estimated at 9.6 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from a year ago.

In the domestic market, Hyundai Motor sold 325,518 cars in the January-June period of this year, down 0.7 percent year on year, due to sluggish domestic demand and the onslaught of import cars, driven by the impact of tariff reductions caused by FTAs. In contrast, the company enjoyed an 11.4-percent growth in overseas sales to 2.06 million units.