Hyundai Motor Q2 profit buffeted by strong won

South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its second-quarter net profit slumped 6.9 percent from a year earlier, mainly due to a stronger won.
The April-June figure came to 2.35 trillion won (2.29 billion dollars), on sales of 22.75 trillion won, down 1.9 percent year-on-year.
It sold 2.5 million cars in the first six months to June, up 4.4 percent from the previous year.
Operating profit for the three-month period plunged 13.3 percent from the previous year to 2.09 trillion won.
"More cars were sold this year as new models were rolled out. We also made persistent efforts to cut costs," a company official said.
"Despite all these, however, the bottom line was weakened, mainly due to a strong won," he added.
The won has been on a steady rise against major currencies and earlier this month posted a six-year high against the greenback.