SEOUL– Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. saw their sales in Europe rise 9.8 percent last month from a year earlier, backed by strong demand for electric vehicles, data showed Thursday.
Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 96,556 vehicles in Europe in May, compared with 87,965 the previous year, according to the data by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Hyundai’s sales rose 9.7 percent on-year to 47,891 units and sales of Kia climbed 9.8 percent to 48,665 units in the same period.
The combined market share of the two South Korean automakers came to 10.2 percent, up 2.1 percentage points from a year ago.
The strong sales came on the back of robust demand for electric vehicles. The companies sold a total of 11,453 EVs, such as IONIQ Electric, IONIQ 5 and EV6, up 31 percent from the previous year.
The EV sales for the January-May period reached 66,106 vehicles, logging a 50.7 percent hike from a year earlier.
Hyundai and Kia’s total European vehicle sales during the first five months of 2022 were tallied at 454,563, up 17 percent from a year ago.
Source: Yonhap News Agency