SEOUL– Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Corp. said Friday their combined sales in Europe jumped 40 percent in the first half from a year earlier, driven by environment friendly models.
Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 494,158 vehicles in Europe in the January-June period, and their first-half sales gain outpaced an average of 27 percent on-year growth in the European market of 6.49 million units, a Hyundai spokesman said, citing data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).
Hyundai’s first-half sales rose 39 percent on-year to 242,922 units and Kia’s climbed 41 percent to 251,236 units.
The two carmakers claimed a 7.6 percent share in the European automobile market in the first six months, up 0.7 percentage point from a year earlier.
Hyundai and Kia beat their bigger rival BMW Group to rank fourth in terms of sales after Volkswagen Group, Stellantis Group and Renault Group, the data showed.
Among their models, Hyundai’s Kona, IONIQ Electric and IONIQ 5 and Kia’s Soul and Niro electric cars buoyed their first-half sales.
Source: Yonhap News Agency