Sector analysts said the yen's strength and manufacturers' efforts to reinforce overseas sales networks boosted exports.

Hyundai Motor Co, the country's largest automotive company, said on Monday its 1999 sales reached 1.27 million vehicles, up 40.1 percent from the year before.

Kia Motors Corp, which was taken over by Hyundai Motor in March, also reported a 75.7 percent jump in its vehicles sales last year, to 834,084 units from 474,630.

Daewoo Motor, now up for sale, said it sold 945,572 units in 1999, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier.

"The recovery in vehicle sales is much, much better than anyone earlier expected," said Han Soong-ho, an analyst at HSBC Securities.

"A sharp economic recovery and a boom in the stock market are primarily responsible for a surge in domestic sales of new cars."

Hyundai said in a statement its domestic sales totaled 570,510 units, up 70.0 percent from a year earlier, while exports stood at 700,961 vehicles, up 22.5 percent.Hyundai attributed its highest ever export volume to strong US sales and overseas sales strategy.Kia Motors said its domestic sales totalled 348,584 vehicles in 1999, up 124.2 percent from 1998 and exports in 1999 were 485,500, up 52.1 percent.

A Kia spokesman said the company's domestic sales benefited from a brisk economic recovery, which sparked demand, marked by strong sales of minivans."Minivans accounted for 40.3 percent of Kia's total domestic sales in 1999," Kia spokesman Chun Sang-jin said.

Exports fared well last year because the reputation of thecompany overseas improved after Hyundai Motor took over Kia in March, he said.

Daewoo Motor said its domestic sales rose 45 percent to 339,760 units in 1999 from 1998, while exports in 1999 fell 8.6 percent to 605,812 vehicles.Daewoo creditors have said they aim to sign the finalcontract to sell the ailing motor company in a limited international auction by the end of June.Analysts said vehicle sales by Hyundai and Kia wereexpected to grow 10 to 20 percent in 2000, still riding on robust economic advance.

"The growth in vehicle sales would be mostly seen in thedomestic market as the economy is expected to remain strong," said Kim Sang-ik, analyst at Daishin Economic Research Institute.

"But the prospects of exports look dim because the world'smajor car markets could suffer from rising interest rates and high oil prices."

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo said on Monday thatHyundai and Kia Motors would aim for combined sales of 2.76 million vehicles in 2000.