Hyundai Motor's car sales in India remain weak

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, sold fewer than 30,000 vehicles in India for the second straight month in August, affected by sluggish demand, data showed Thursday. According to the data by the Korea Automotive Research Institute, Hyundai Motor sold 28,000 vehicles in India last month following the 26,000 vehicles tallied in July. Except for July and August, Hyundai Motor has sold over 30,000 cars every month. The sales are weaker than the overall market figures. In August, a total of 183,000 vehicles were sold in India, which is a 5.2 percent growth from the same month a year earlier. Hyundai's vehicle sales there were just a 0.2 percent rise from a year earlier, the data showed. Still, Hyundai Motor kept its second spot in terms of market share in India with 15.5 percent following Maruti Suzuki India with 41.5 percent, according to the data. The recent weak sales are attributable to the overall sluggish market conditions in India. During the first eight months of this year, a total of 1.64 million vehicles were sold in India, down 8.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. Hyundai Motor has sold 252,000 vehicles there so far this year, which is down 4.4 percent from a year earlier, the data showed