SEOUL (Reuters) - HYUNDAI Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp said on Sunday they plan to provide incentives to customers in South Korea if they lose their jobs or go bankrupt.

The plan comes at a time when domestic auto sales are expected to fall in the coming months after the government ended a tax incentive designed to boost car sales.

Hyundai will pay 3 million won (S$3,484) to customers who buy cars on installment plans from this month to the end of 2009 if they lose their jobs within the first year of purchase.

Under the programme, the maker of the Elantra compact sedan said in a statement it would give the money only to buyers on installment plans who are fired from their companies after 120 days of the first installment payment.

The programme, which runs from this month to the end of the year, also applies to customers who bought Hyundai's cars in the past, the company added.

Separately, Kia, Hyundai's affiliate, will return installment payments of up to 5 million won to customers who buy its vehicles this month if they lose their jobs or go bankrupt within the first year of purchase.

July's local sales of Hyundai and Kia rose from a year ago but fell from the previous month as the government scrapped a cut in special consumption taxes at the end of June, a Hyundai Motor Group official said without providing specific figures.

Last December, the government said it would lower special consumption taxes on passenger cars by 30 per cent until the end of June.

Hyundai and other South Korea's automakers are scheduled to announce their July car sales data on Monday.

Hyundai has outperformed almost all of major car makers in the United States, fuelled by a programme launched in January that allows customers to return vehicles if they lose their jobs within the first year of purchase.

Hyundai is expected to keep benefitting from growing appetite for smaller cars and improving brand images, but the company is seen struggling against a firmer won currency and as government stimulus measures fade.

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