Roll 'em Out
Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. recorded the highest sales of all time in the U.S. auto market in Aug., aided by a firm demand for their major SUVs, according to industry data.
Hyundai-Kia Motors announced on Sept. 2 that they sold a combined 130,909 cars in the U.S. last month, up 5 percent from 124,670 units a year earlier. This is the first time that their Aug. sales surpassed 130,000 units in the U.S. The figure also showed an increase of 2.8 percent from 127,324 units in the previous month. Although the auto market in the U.S. declined 0.6 percent last month, the two South Korean auto giants are strengthening market dominance. Hyundai Motor sold 72,012 cars in the U.S. last month, up 2.9 percent from a year earlier, while Kia Motors saw its Aug. sales there expand 3.7 percent year-on-year to 58,897 units.
Despite the global economic recession, the increase in sales can be attributed largely to SUVs, such as Hyundai Motor’s Tucson and Santa Fe, and Kia Motors’ Sportage R and Sorento R.
Along with SUVs, compact cars also posted rises in sales. In particular, sales of the Kia Soul box-style came to 17,108 units, hitting an all-time high for a month.
The figure grew 13 percent from 2,000 units a year ago and 22 percent from 3,100 units in the previous month. Hyundai-Kia Motors have a combined market share of 8.3 percent in the U.S. in Aug. – Hyundai Motor with 4.6 percent and Kia Motors with 3.7 percent – up 0.4 percentage points from 7.9 percent in the same period last year. During the Jan.-Aug. period this year, the cumulative sales of the two auto giants came to 940,335 units, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier, while the market share stood at 8.1 percent, maintaining an 8 percent level.