Hyundai Motor's executives to voluntarily cut salary by 10 pct

Executives of Hyundai Motor Group's 51 affiliates will voluntarily cut their salaries by 10 percent from this month as global economic slowdown and weak domestic demand worsened business conditions.

An official at Hyundai Motor said by phone on Tuesday that Hyundai Motor Group executives decided voluntarily to slash their own salaries by 10 percent starting this month to show their will to overcome tough business conditions.

It marked the first time in about seven years that the group's executives make a voluntary salary cut. Subject to the pay cut reaches about 1,000 executives, according to Yonhap news agency report.

Global auto sales by Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors came in at 5,621,910 in the January-September period, down 1.8 percent from the same period of last year. It marked the first decline since the Asian financial crisis hit the economy in 1998.

Global economic slump is being protracted especially in Russia and Brazil, major emerging markets of the South Korean automaker, resulting in lower external demand.

The end in June of a temporary tax cut in consumption tax led to weaker domestic demand for cars.

Partial strikes by unionized workers in Hyundai and Kia continued from mid-July to late September, disrupting production and sales at home and abroad. It cost Hyundai Motor more than 3 trillion won (2.7 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem