By Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co (KS:005380) said on Thursday second-quarter profit fell 75% on year, the steepest in seven quarters and missing analyst estimates, as weak global demand due to the pandemic overshadowed sales of high-end models at home.
Hyundai's global retail sales fell 33% from the same period a year earlier whereas sales at home in South Korea - at 200,000 vehicles, exceeding all other markets - rose 13%, company data showed.
Other markets including the United States, China, Europe and India suffered double-digit percentage sales falls.
Domestic sales have been led by large cars and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) such as the G80 sedan and GV80 SUV from premium brand Genesis as well as Hyundai sedan Grandeur, analysts said.
Even so, sales of such higher-margin cars were not enough to offset a plunge in demand in Europe and especially in the United States, which is reeling from daily surges in COVID-19 cases.
Hyundai shares were up 3.3% versus a 0.6% fall in the broader market (KS11).
Net profit for April-June fell to 227 billion won (148.84 million pounds) from 919 billion won a year earlier. That compared with the 275 billion won average of 16 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.
Revenue fell 19% to 21.9 trillion won.