Encouraged by strong sales of its products in the first quarter, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. is aiming to sell 360,000 cars in 2009, says Xu Heyi, the company's president.

 

The figure represents a 22 percent increase from last year's 294,506 cars, according to information released by the company.

 

Beijing Hyundai sold about 110,000 cars in the first three months of 2009. "That was a record high for quarterly sales," says Xu.

 

Xu made the remarks when unveiling two models at last month's Shanghai auto show; the i30 hatchback and a refreshed Sonata sedan.

 

Developed by Hyundai Motor Co.'s R&D center in Germany, the i30 is 4.25 meters long, 1.78 meters wide and 1.49 meters high. The car has already been launched in Western Europe, Australia and Argentina.

 

The refreshed version of the Sonata was done by Beijing Hyundai's new research and development center in the Chinese capital.

 

The restyling focused on the grille, engine hood, bumper and dashboard of the model, says Yuan Wenxue, vice president of Beijing Hyundai and director of the company's R&D center.

 

In the other aspects, the refreshed Sonata will be the same as the existing model.

 

The i30 and the redesigned Sonata will go on sale in China in the second half of this year, adds Xu. Prices of the two cars have yet to be set.

 

Beijing Hyundai is a joint venture between Hyundai and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp. It currently sells the Elantra, Elantra Yuedong, Sonata, Sonata NF sedan, Tucson SUV, and Accent small car in China.

 

Strong sales so far this year have mainly come from the Elantra and its face-lifted version, the Elantra Yuedong.

 

In the first quarter, sales of the Elanta Yuedong alone reached 46,646 units, accounting for 42.4 percent of Beijing Hyundai's total sales in the period, according to figures released by the company.

 

To boost its sales, Beijing Hyundai plans to lift the number of its franchised dealers across China to 470 by the end of this year from 420 now.