SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hyundai Motor Co. is satisfied with sales levels in the United States and has no plans to cut production at its factory there, a top executive said.
''U.S. sales results for March were good,'' Hyundai Vice Chairman Kim Dong-jin was quoted Monday by the carmaker as saying. ''The situation is very favorable and encouraging.''
He said that ''there is no such plan'' to lower output.
Kim made the comments in response to questions from reporters Friday on the sidelines of a meeting sponsored by the Korean Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the carmaker said.
Hyundai, which is expanding aggressively overseas, began production at its U.S. plant in Montgomery, Ala., in May 2005, starting with the Sonata sedan. About a year later it added the Santa Fe SUV.
In March, the automaker sold 42,796 vehicles in the U.S., the world's largest auto market, up 2 percent from the same month last year. Best-sellers included the Sonata, Accent and Elantra.
Hyundai also exports vehicles to the U.S. from factories in South Korea.
Kim said that despite higher costs for raw materials, Hyundai has no plans to raise vehicle prices.
He said that raw material costs have increased by about 500,000 won ($513) per vehicle.
''We're very anguished,'' he said, when asked how Hyundai planned to fill that gap. He said price increases were not in the cards.
