Thanks to sales growth in Europe and the U.S., Hyundai Motor saw 9.2 percent increase in revenue from a year ago with a record W21.94 trillion in the second quarter this year.

That is even more than the previous record of W20.52 trillion set in the fourth quarter of last year. Operating profit rose 17.7 percent on-year to W2.5 trillion. The ratio of operating profit to revenue of 11.4 percent is the highest among global automakers.

Hyundai defied various obstacles including the eurozone crisis to sell 2.13 million cars in the first half, up 8.1 percent over the same period last year. The surge in sales was the highest in Europe with 15.4 percent. It launched a series of small or medium diesel cars such as the i30 and i40, which appealed to European customers who tend to prefer smaller cars.

Korea was the only place where Hyundai’s sales dwindled. In the first half, the company sold 328,000 cars, down 4.6 percent from a year ago and less than its sales in China or the U.S. Hyundai believes that there is little chance for sales in the domestic market to improve in the second half.