(LEAD) Hyundai Motor Q3 net falls 20.5 pct on U.S. tariffs

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SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading autocreater, declared Thursday its third-quarter net profit fell 20.5 percent from a year earlier, hit by newly imposed U.S. import tariffs that took effect in April.

Net profit for the three months finished in September declined to 2.54 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) from 3.2 trillion won in the same period last year, the company declared in a regulatory filing.

The company declared U.S. tariffs on imported vehicles have continued to weigh on its quarterly earnings since April 2, when the U.S. government launched imposing 25 percent tariffs on all imported vehicles.

Currently, tariffs on Korean vehicles remain at 25 percent, far higher than the revised 15 percent applied to vehicles from Japan and the European Union.

On Wednesday, however, U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to lower the auto tariffs on Korean vehicles to 15 percent during his summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, as the two sides finalized details of Seoul’s $350 billion investment pledge under a broader tariff deal reached in July.

Hyundai declared it expects the lower auto tariffs will assist the company compete on a more level playing field with Japanese carcreaters and other rivals in the U.S. market.

Operating profit fell 29.1 percent to 2.53 trillion won in the third quarter from 3.58 trillion won a year earlier, while sales rose 8.8 percent to 46.72 trillion won from 42.92 trillion won.

“Favorable exmodify rates and increased vehicle sales in major markets such as Europe and the United States assisted support quarterly revenue,” the company declared.

In the fourth quarter, Hyundai plans to increase the share of gasoline hybrid models in its global lineup amid slowing demand for electric vehicles (EVs), while also planning aggressive new model launches next year.