Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo on Tuesday ordered regional chiefs to shore up their production and sales policies in overseas markets in response to a possible sales slowdown in the coming months.

According to group officials, Chung was briefed on first-half sales results and current market issues across regions at a meeting with some 60 executives in charge of global operations on Tuesday at the Seoul headquarters.

“As the domestic market is expected to continue to suffer in the latter half of this year, we need to focus more resources on overseas markets,” the Hyundai chief was quoted as saying by group officials.

“Car sales are slowing in Europe, India and Russia. Coupled with the low growth of China and the cheaper Japanese yen, the business environment shows no positive signs,” he said. “We have to come up with preemptive measures not to lose the current growth momentum.”

Hyundai and Kia brands sold 3.83 million vehicles in the first half of this year, up 7 percent from 3.57 million a year ago. During the same period, however, the global car market posted a moderate 2.2 percent growth. The Hyundai boss’ comment comes as the Korean auto giant is experiencing a slowdown after years of strong growth in overseas markets, especially in the all-important U.S. market. In June when the U.S. car market increased 9 percent, Hyundai Motor saw only a 1.9 percent growth in sales.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)