SEOUL: Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s biggest carmaker, logged its record-high earnings last year due to strong demand for high-priced models, the company said on Tuesday.

Hyundai’s revenue gained 13.1 per cent over the year to 117.61 trillion won ($98.1 billion) in 2021, topping the previous high of 105.75 trillion won ($88.2 billion) tallied in 2019.

Operating profit soared 178.9 per cent to 6.68 trillion won ($5.6 billion) last year, marking the highest in seven years since 2014. Net income almost tripled to 5.69 trillion won ($4.7 billion).

Hyundai sold 3,890,726 vehicles in 2021 on the global markets, up 3.9 per cent from a year earlier.

During the October-December quarter, the automaker’s revenue added 6.1 per cent to 31.03 trillion won ($25.9 billion) compared to a year earlier.

Operating profit jumped 21.9 per cent over the year to 1.53 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in the fourth quarter, but net income dropped 40.7 per cent to 701.4 billion won ($584.9 million).

Hyundai said in a statement that the robust sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), Genesis luxury models and electric vehicles helped lift revenue in the fourth quarter despite the slowdown in sales volume amid an adverse economic environment.

The automaker sold 960,639 vehicles around the globe in the fourth quarter, down 15.7 per cent from a year earlier.

Automotive sales in markets outside of South Korea dropped 17.2 per cent to 774,643 units amid the supply shortage of chips used in making cars, but the domestic car sale rose 8.9 per cent to 185,996 units.

Hyundai said it will focus on enhancing its product mix with SUV and luxury models while strengthening its electric vehicle lineup.

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