HYUNDAI Motor Corp may miss its sales target in China for a second straight year due to a lack of new models and the popularity of Chinese-made, price-competitive models.

Beijing Hyundai Motor Corp, a joint venture between South Korea's biggest auto maker and Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, saw first half-year sales drop 23 percent to 91,864 vehicles year on year, the Union of National Passenger Car Market Information said yesterday. The sales account for 30 percent of its whole-year target of 310,000 and caused the group to drop from fifth to ninth on the list of top 10 best-sellers in the same period.

It sold 290,000 vehicles last year, an increase of 24 percent from 2005, but outside its target of 300,000 units.

Zhang Xin, an auto analyst from Guotai Jun'an Securities Co Ltd, said a lack of new models and competitive local cars, like Chery and Geely, are not helping the Hyundai cause.

Sun Zhenjie, a spokesman of Beijing Hyundai, attributed the dilemma to a limited production capacity that prevents it from adding models.

"We are undergoing a restructuring in both our product line-ups and costs this year," said Sun. "But so far there is no plan to change our sales target."

Beijing Hyundai sold Sonata, Elantra and Accent cars in China with an annual capacity of 300,000 units.

The car maker is constructing a second plant in China able to make 300,000 units annually. It also plans to locally produce the coupe sports car and a revamped Elantra in the plant, expected to start operation in the first quarter of next year.

Last month, Beijing Hyundai also lowered the price by up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,321) on the complete product mix.

"The price cut is not a wise move for Beijing Hyundai because it will also eat into its profits when its Chinese parent Beijing Auto is preparing for a public listing," said Zhang.