Seoul:Combined vehicle sales by South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. fell 1.7 percent in Europe last month compared to the previous year, due to a shortage of new models, industry data revealed on Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 96,258 vehicles in the European market in September, down from 97,907 units sold during the same period in 2025, as reported by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
The decline in sales was attributed to the lack of new models, particularly electric vehicles, in Hyundai Motor's lineup, which affected its sales performance for the month, a company spokesperson stated. Hyundai's sales dropped 17.5 percent to 39,821 units from 48,253 the previous year, while Kia experienced a 13.7 percent increase in sales, reaching 56,437 units from 49,654.
In response to stringent emissions regulations in Europe, both automakers are focusing on expanding sales of environmentally friendly vehicles, including the gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of Hyundai's Tucson, its all-electric Kona, and Kia's pure electric EV3 and Niro plug-in hybrid.
Despite the overall European vehicle market experiencing a 10.2 percent increase in sales to 1,363,210 units, Hyundai and Kia's combined market share fell to 7.1 percent, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from a year earlier. From January to September, their combined sales declined by 3.4 percent to 770,795 units from 797,919 units the year before, with their market share slipping 0.7 percentage points to 7.3 percent.