Although the auto industry's sales were less than expected in May, one brand that seemed immune to the slowdown was Hyundai. The South Korean automaker had a great month, setting the record for May sales and chalking up the second-best month in company history.
"The industry experienced choppier waters than anticipated in May," said Dave Zuchowski, executive vice president of sales. "Amidst this economic backdrop and our own very low inventories, we felt great about setting yet another monthly volume record and are really well positioned for what we fully expect to be a robust summer sales period."
The company said it sold 67,019 units during the month, a 13 percent increase over May of 2011, which was at the time a record-breaking number. More than half of that total was made up of just two cars - the extremely popular Sonata and Elantra.
The biggest change, however, came for the Hyundai Azera, which saw sales increase by 558 percent. In May of 2011, the brand sold less than 200 of the vehicle, but broke 1,000 units this month. The Accent also sold nearly six times what it did last year.
Drivers who have a Hyundai or any other vehicle should be sure they take care of it by keeping up with scheduled maintenance, such as brake service or car tune ups.