Hyundai Motor profit up

SUV power: A Hyundai Motor Co SUV on display at the company’s Motorstudio showroom in Goyang, South Korea recently. Hyundai’s second-quarter earnings rose 31.2% to US$780mil. — Bloomberg

SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co posted its steepest quarterly net profit gain in over seven years as a weaker local currency helped lift US income, while new models boosted domestic sales.

Solid performance at home and in the United States helped offset a sales slump in China, where a slowing economy, trade war with the United States and a lack of competitive models prompted the automaker to suspend production at its oldest factory earlier this year.