HYUNDAI Motor Co said yesterday its net profit for the third quarter fell 37.8 percent as sales declined and labor unrest sapped production.

Hyundai earned 264.8 billion won (US$187.4 million) in the three months through September, the company said in a regulatory filing, down from 425.5 billion won in the same period last year.

Sales during the latest quarter fell 14.5 percent to 6.1 trillion won from 7.1 trillion won a year earlier, Hyundai said.

In a separate statement, South Korea's largest car maker cited 'production losses from strikes that extended over two months' for the decline in profits.

A series of partial walkouts by Hyundai's labor union beginning in July over an annual wage agreement cost the car maker 44,646 vehicles in lost production worth 690.5 billion won.

Labor unrest has long been a major headache for Hyundai. The company's union has gone on strike over pay or other issues every year but one since it was formed in 1987.

Hyundai, established in 1967, along with affiliate Kia Motors Corp, is the world's fifth-largest auto group.

The car maker took solace in what it said was little change in its worldwide vehicle sales.