Climbing Ladder
Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors took the second spot in market share in the U.S. hybrid vehicle sector, Following Toyota and surpassing Ford.
According to a U.S. eco car review website (www.hybridcars.com) on May 17, Hyundai and Kia Motors sold a combined 3,373 units of hybrid cars in the U.S. in April. Hyundai sold 2,481 units of the Sonata hybrid, while Kia sold 892 units of the K5 hybrid.
Their combined market share in the U.S. stood at 10.4 percent last month, which was 0.3 percentage points higher than the all-time high of 10.1 percent in Sept. 2013. Hyundai and Kia moved up to second place in the sales rankings, overtaking Ford, which sold 3,057 units, for the first time in 38 months.
In particular, the upward trend of the two companies is getting more attention, since the overall hybrid vehicle sales in the U.S. dropped 17.9 percent from a year earlier, due to the prolonged low oil prices. The Sonata and the K5 hybrid showed sales growth of 8.3 percent year-on-year and 29.8 percent from March.
On the other hand, Ford, which had maintained the second spot in sales, saw a rapid drop of 48.5 percent year-on-year in the sales of its Fusion Hybrid model last month, handing over the second position to Hyundai and Kia Motors.
Market leader Toyota sold a total of 21,346 hybrids last month, recording a high market share of 65.9 percent in the sector.