Hyundai Getz - As Good As it Get(s)z / Getz crossed the 100,000 units mark in Europe in less than 14 months / Getz nominated "Official Car of the Athens Olympic Games 2004"

Rüsselsheim, Germany (ots) - Hyundai Motor Europe (HME) is on target for success, as the tentative results for the first quarter show. During the first quarter of 2004, the company targets an overall year-on-year sales increase of 17 percent on the European market. The Getz, Hyundai's European best-selling supermini, is part of this success story - the latest Hyundai model that sold over 100,000 units in Europe in less than 14 months time.

The Getz, Hyundai's best-selling supermini, is proving a real winner in Europe: The car has been widely appreciated in Europe as the numerous awards during the past months illustrate (*). Most recently Getz had been awarded the official title "Car of the Athens Olympic Games 2004", of which Hyundai Motor in Greece is a proud sponsor.

For the year ahead, Hyundai Motor Europe is projecting total sales for the supermini of around 110,000 units (gasoline and diesel); this projection follows the successful introduction of the first diesel-powered derivative in January - the three-cylinder turbo diesel 1.5-litre CRDi, which is expected to account for around 30 percent of European Getz sales by the year-end. In the first two months after launch, 2,933 Getz diesel had already been sold, representing 20% of the total of 14,386 models registered.

(*) Recent awards won by the Getz include the What Car? Magazine '2003 Budget Car of the Year' award and the Scottish 'Small Car of the Year' award in the UK; the 'Bestseller of the Year' in Denmark and the 'Utilitário do Ano 2004' (Supermini of 2004) in Portugal.

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai Automotive Group which includes Kia Motors Corp. and over two dozen auto-related subsidiaries and affiliates. Employing nearly 50,000 people worldwide, Hyundai Motor posted 17.77 billion Euro in sales in 2003. Hyundai motor vehicles are sold in 190 countries through around 4,500 dealerships and showrooms. Further information about Hyundai Motor Co. and its products is available on the Internet at http://www.hyundai-motor.com.