Hyundai’s Capacity Limits Will Constrain Its U.S. Sales

Hyundai Motor Co., which has boosted U.S. sales 75% since 2008, predicts its American volume will rise just 4% to 734,000 vehicles this year because of capacity constraints, Bloomberg News reports.

Hyundai's American sales crept up 2% year over year to 96,000 vehicles in the first two months of 2013 compared with an 8% gain in the market. Worldwide, the company has forecast a 4% increase to 7.41 million units this year.

John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai's U.S. sales unit, tells Bloomberg that the company has no plans to build new capacity and will instead rely on eking more output from existing facilities. Hyundai operates assembly plants in South Korea, Montgomery, Ala., and West Point, Ga.

Krafcik adds that the additional 31,000 vehicles the company expects to sell in the U.S. in 2013 will result from greater efficiencies at the Georgia factory, which makes the Santa Fe SUV. The Alabama plant builds the Sonata and Elantra cars.