Lee, who is also chief financial officer, was speaking after the automaker reported its third quarter earnings. He did not elaborate.

Last month, a consortium led by Hyundai Motor bid $10 billion (6.2 billion pounds) for a plot of land in Seoul's high-end Gangnam district to house its headquarters, more than triple the appraisal value of the property. Its shares have been falling since then.

The South Korean automaker declared a 1,950 won (1.52 pounds) per share year-end dividend for 2013, or a total handout of 534.4 billion Korean won.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Miral Fahmy)