SEOUL, KOREA - Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors announced on May 13 that their global sales of hybrid cars passed the 200,000 mark in the January-March period of this year.This figure includes domestic sales of 88,461 units and overseas sales of 115,742 units.

 

They attributed the strong results to their efforts to expand the hybrid lineups as well as to broaden their market towards Asia, North America, and Europe.

Their hybrid car sales, which stood merely at 6,231 in 2009, shot up to 37,395 units in 2011 thanks to their strengthened hybrid lineups, including Sonata Hybrid and K5 Hybrid. In overseas markets, in particular, their hybrid car sales passed the 100,000 level.

The carmakers expect their hybrid car sales to accelerate further as they release Sonata Hybrid in the Latin American market.

They plans to make bigger forays into the global eco-friendly car market by releasing Korea’s first plug-in hybrid New Sonata Plug-in Hybrid in 2015 and expanding the scope of hybrid applications.