Hyundai claimed that it broke a U.S. import record.

The South Korean car maker said it set a U.S. sales record for a first-year importer. Hyundai Motor Co. said it sold 48,531 subcompact Excel cars from the model’s introduction in February through Thursday and was certain to surpass its 1986 sales target of 100,000. The old record was unclear, but Hyundai said it was established at 48,148 in 1958 by the French auto maker Renault.