Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun. (Photos: Hyundai Motor Group)

A view of Hyundai Motor SUV Palisade.

Hyundai Motor rejoined the club of companies earning 1 trillion won in operating profit in the second quarter on the back of a strong dollar (a weak won) and the release of new SUVs such as Palisade. Many analysts said the Korean automaker was still struggling to put performances on the right track, as the atuomaker suffer from weak sales in emerging markets , including China, where a joint venture turned into losses.

Hyundai Motor logged 1.237 trillion won in operating profit in the second quarter of the year. Q2 sales of 26.966 trillion won represented a 9.1 percent rise over the same period of last year, when the automaker posted 24.711 trillion won.

Q2 operating profit represented a 30.2 percent surge over the same period. Hyundai Motor’s returning to 1 trillion won in operating profit came seven quarters after the third quarter of 2017, when the automaker saw a plunge in sales in China due to Chinese authorities’ retaliation against the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Korea.

An improvement in Q2 sales and operating profit was partly due to a weak won. The dollar to Korean won exchange rate, which averaged 1,167 during the second quarter of the year, was a 7.3 percent plunge over the same period of last year.

An IR officer with Hyundai Motor said a weak won had an effect of boosting 307.2 billion won in sales and 264.4 billion won in operating profit.

Hyundai Motor’s good performance was also partly attributable to the release of new cars. In Korea, Hyundai Motor sold 200,156 units, a year-to-year 8.1 percent jump as the large-size SUV Palisade and Kona has enjoyed popularity and the G8 new Sonata has made its debut.

Hyundai Motor Group Turn Its Eyes to Southeast Asia

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and discussed ways of tapping the Southeast Asian market. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, struggling with declining sales in China, is accelerating efforts to explore Southeast Asia as a new market.

Executive Vice Chairman Chung had a meeting with Indonesian President Widodo athe presidential office in Jakarta in which Indonesian Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto and other ministers were also present.

Sonata Hybrid HEV Offers Additional 1,300 Km of Range Yearly

Hyundai Motor released the new G8 Sonata Hybrid HEV model on July 22.

The new Sonata Hybrid HEV model is outfitted with a solar roof system that would allow an additional 1,300 km of range yearly, provided it gets sun for six hours per day.

The latest Sonata model has new features such as a solar roof, active speed control technology, and Hybrid-exclusive design.