SEOUL, KOREA - Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors sold 5.01 million units in the global markets during the January-August period of this year, according to a report by the Korea Automotive Research Institute.
Their eight-month period sales are 20,000 units lower than those recorded by Renault Nissan. Unlike Renault Nissan which suffered a 1.8-percent decline in sales year on year, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors marked an 8.9-percent growth.
Among the world's top-ten auto makers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors ranked No. 2 in terms of growth rate, right behind Ford's 13.3 percent. If this trend continues toward the end of this year, there is a potential for the two companies to move up to the No. 4 spot this year.
Despite the lower-than-expected sales in the U.S., Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors enjoyed robust growth in China. Beijing Hyundai sold 670,000 units during the first eight months of this year, up 30.9 percent year on year. In contrast, Nissan's Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Nissan suffered a 10-percent decline in sales to 531,000 largely due to anti-Japanese sentiments in China resulting from disputes over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
