By Heekyong Yang and Heejin Kim
SEOUL, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor reported a 5.5% rise in third-quarter operating profit on Thursday, as favourable foreign exchange rates helped offset the impact of partial strikes and weaker sales of ageing models.
Hyundai, which together with affiliate Kia Corp forms the world's third-biggest automaking group by sales, posted an operating profit of 2.7 trillion won ($2.01 billion) for the July-September period, compared with 2.5 trillion won a year earlier.
That compared with a 2.4 trillion won forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.
Here are more details:
• The automaker also lowered its 2026 operating profit margin target to 5.5%-6.5% from 6.3%-7.3% previously, while cutting its annual vehicle sales target to 4 million units from 4.16 million.
• It also revised down its capital expenditure plan for the year to 16 trillion won from 17.8 trillion won previously.
• Revenue fell 3.4% from a year earlier to 45.1 trillion won.
• Analysts said Hyundai faced increasing competition from Chinese electric vehicle makers in South Korea and Europe, with a limited lineup of affordable EV models adding to its challenges.
• The downward revision comes after Hyundai Motor kept its annual guidance unchanged in July, saying it expected growth in the second half as it planned to boost production and launch new models following disruptions caused by a fire at a supplier.
• Competition in South Korea's imported car market has intensified, with China's BYD ranking as the third-largest foreign brand behind Tesla and BMW.
• Hyundai Motor's US unit said earlier this month it was recalling 94,622 vehicles in the United States over a potential fire risk from front power-seat motors that could overheat while vehicles were parked or being driven.
• US automaker General Motors also narrowed its 2026 adjusted earnings forecast earlier this month, with the midpoint of its revised earnings-per-share outlook falling below Wall Street estimates, as it warned of rising commodity costs and lower truck deliveries.
($1 = 1,341.7500 won)
(Reporting by Heekyong YangEditing by Ed Davies)
