Hyundai Motor fourth-quarter profit skids 39% as steep discounts hurt

Hyundai Motor on Wednesday posted a 39% drop in its quarterly net profit, missing a consensus forecast, hit by heavy discounts to sell their smaller sedans that are losing ground in South Korea and the United States.

Hyundai Motor, the world`s fifth-biggest automaker along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp, reported an October-December net profit of 1 trillion won ($858.07 million), below the 1.5 trillion won average estimate of 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales for the fourth quarter fell 0.1% to 24.5 trillion won, while operating profit dropped 33% to 1 trillion won.