SEOUL, KOREA- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors each saw their sales in BRICs—China, Brazil, India and Russia—rise by more than 20 percent in the first half of this year, grabbing a No. 3 spot in terms of market share there.According to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors on July 28, they sold 1,283,404 units of cars in the BRIC markets in the January-June period of this year, up 22.9 percent from 1,044,017 units a year ago. Hyundai Motor sold 897,089 units, while Kia Motors 386,315 units. Given that their global sales reached 3.68 million units in the first half of this year, their sales in BRICs accounted for 34.8 percent of the total.
Their robust growth in BRICs dwarfed the growth pace of their rivals. Volkswagen of Germany and GM of the U.S., which ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in BRICs in the first half, marked a growth of mere 13.1 percent and 7.5 percent compared to a year ago.
Nissan, which had been positioned at No. 3 last year, suffered a 9.1-percent decline in sales there, slipping to a No.4 spot this year. Ranked No. 5 and No. 6 were Japan's Suzuki and Toyota, each posting a negative year-on-year growth of 7.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.
