Hyundai Motor Places 2nd in Australian Car Market in Oct.

Hyundai Motor Co. ranked second in the Australian car market in October thanks to the strong popularity of the i30 and the Tucson.

The company sold 6,200 units in Australia in October, said Best Selling Cars Blog, which provides global car sales statistics, on Nov. 28.

This was an increase of about 3 percent from the same month of 2020. Although the growth rate was not high, Hyundai Motor was the only one that logged an increase in sales among the top seven brands. The company saw its ranking jump to 2nd place from 4th.

First place was taken by Toyota, whose market share remained in the 20 percent range. Hyundai Motor was followed by Ford (3rd) and Matsuda (4th), which are popular brands in Australia.

Kia Corp. saw its sales fall 8.5 percent from 2020 and remained in fifth place, followed by Mitsubishi, Nissan and Volkswagen.

It was the first time since October 2019 that Hyundai Motor ranked second in monthly sales in Australia.

Hyundai Motor sold about 1,800 and 1,500 units of the i30 and the Tucson, respectively. In particular, sales of the i30 jumped 36 percent from 2020, putting the model fourth in the overall sales rankings in October.

Hyundai Motor racked up cumulative sales of 61,000 units from January through October in 2021, with a year-on-year sales increase of roughly 10,000 units.

Hyundai Motor is solidifying its position in the Australian market by using eco-friendly vehicles such as the IONIQ 5 and the hydrogen electric vehicle Nexo as well as internal combustion engine-powered models.

The IONIQ 5 was ranked first, beating the Polestar 2 and the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo, in an annual car review by Australian auto research firm Carsales.

The Nexo, a hydrogen vehicle, is also garnering much attention in Australia, where the government is pushing to supply more hydrogen vehicles. The Nexo beat the Toyota Mirai and was chosen as a model for state governments in Australia. Hyundai Motor supplied 20 units of the Nexo model to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in early 2021.