Hyundai beats Volkswagen with world's 2nd-largest Q1 profits

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group surpassed Volkswagen Group to claim the second-highest operating profit in the global automotive industry for the first quarter.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Hyundai Motor Group's operating profit reached 6.98 trillion won ($5.09 billion), outperforming Volkswagen's 4.59 billion euros ($4.94 billion).

Toyota Group remained the industry leader with 1.11 trillion yen ($7.15 billion) in operating profits.

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has yet to release its figures, but it is guessed that their results did not match Hyundai's performance, given their sales numbers.

With an operating profit margin of 10.4%, Hyundai led the top five global automakers, exceeding Toyota (10.0%), GM Group (8.7%), Volkswagen (6.1%), and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi (4.3%).

Write to Jung-Eun Shin at newyearis@hankyung.com