LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: NPR business news starts with good news from a carmaker.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: We know the recession has sapped demands for cars. The demand that remain seems to be for smaller cheaper cars - just the kind made by Korean carmaker Hyundai. Today, Hyundai said its quarterly profit jumped by nearly 50 percent to a record high. The profits were boosted not just by decent sales but by a weaker Korean currency, which makes its cars even cheaper when sold abroad.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: Hyundai sales, which include those of its affiliate Kia were also boosted by government stimulus programs in Korea and elsewhere.
The recession has sapped demand for cars, but what remains is demand for smaller, cheaper cars — the kind made by Hyundai. The Korean carmaker said Thursday that its quarterly profit jumped by nearly 50 percent to a record high. The profits were boosted not just by decent sales but by a weaker Korean currency, which makes its cars even cheaper when sold abroad.