Hyundai Motor says aims to sell 152,000 new Santa Fe SUVs this year

SEOUL: Hyundai Motor said it aimed to to sell 152,000 revamped Santa Fe sport utility vehicles this year, as it unveiled the model in South Korea on Thursday.

South Korea's top auto maker said in a statement it was targeting sales of 385,000 Santa Fes in 2013.

Santa Fe is Hyundai's sole model to be launched globally this year and comes as its domestic car sales are increasingly under pressure following free trade deals with Europe and the United States that have boosted international automakers' access to South Korea's formerly sheltered market.

Sales of imported cars topped 10 percent of the market for the first time in January this year, according to industry data, versus less than 1 percent in 2000.