SEOUL, KOREA - Hyundai Motor and KiaMotors marked a slight increase in sales in the United States last month, withtheir January-September U.S. sales passing the 1-million mark, the fastest pacein their history.
Hyundai Motorregistered a slight increase of 1.6 percent to 56,010 units in the U.S. saleslast month, while Kia Motors enjoyed a sharp increase of 6.9 percent to 40,628units.During the January-September period of this year, they sold 1,002,475units in the U.S. (Hyundai Motor: 557,458 units, Kia Motors: 445,017 units), up3.9 percent year on year.
Their market share,however, fell slightly due to stiffer competition with Japanese rivals such asHonda and Nissan, and the surge in new car demand there (up 9.4 percent year onyear).
The combined marketshare of the two Korean automakers stood at 7.8 percent last month, down 0.4percentage point from 8.2 percent a year ago, with their January-Septembermarket share also falling to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent.
