Hyundai Motor America Reports Best-Ever April Sales

- Total sales up despite three fewer selling days

- Second best month in company history

- For the year, 39 percent of all Hyundai vehicles sold have 40 MPG highway EPA labels

COSTA MESA, Calif., May 1, 2012 -- Hyundai Motor America, the most fuel efficient automaker in the U.S., today announced an all-time April sales record of 62,264 units, up 1 percent over last year's all-time April record, and the second best sales month in company history after last month's all-time record. With three fewer selling days this April versus last April, Hyundai's average daily sales rate improved 12 percent.

"Never has a relatively flat sales month felt quite so good," said Dave Zuchowski, Hyundai Motor America's executive vice president of national sales. "We definitely felt some pullback from an overheated March sales pace but really picked up some momentum at the tail end of the month and finished with a flurry to set another all-time volume record. Vehicle availability continues to improve and our announcement just last night of the assembly plant expansion in Alabama will provide much needed production increases for our highly fuel efficient Sonata and Elantra sedans, while generating nearly 900 new jobs for the local economy. "

In its first month of sales, the all-new Azera is off to a torrid start with sales up 399 percent over last April, while Hyundai's family of RWD premium products, Genesis and Equus, continue to deliver outstanding sales results with volume up 36 percent over a year ago. In an ongoing effort to meet retail demand, business to fleet accounts continues to run at less than a 10 percent mix, amongst the lowest levels in the industry.

SALES-WEIGHTED FUEL ECONOMY

Hyundai achieved a corporate average fuel economy level of 37.1 MPG (27.9 MPG label value) in April, while selling 23,632 vehicles (38 percent of total sales) with 40 MPG window label highway fuel economy ratings. "April was a great month for us, but low availability of our 40-mpg highway Accent, Veloster, and Elantra, three of the hottest cars in the industry, definitely impacted our final sales result," said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "We'll continue to work through these constraints with actions like the addition of a third shift at our Alabama plant later this year, which will help feed unmet demand for Elantra and Sonata."