By Lee Hyo-sik
Sales of Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors have hit an all-time high in the United States, as more American consumers prefer vehicles made by the two Korean carmakers to those of European and Japanese brands.
According to Hyundai Motor Group, Sunday, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 702,388 vehicles in the first six months of this year, up 3 percent from the same period last year. The figure was the largest since the two automakers began selling cars in the world’s largest automobile market.
U.S. consumers bought 374,061 sedans and SUVs from Hyundai and 328,327 from Kia.
In particular, SUV sales soared as the growing number of American motorists are returning to driving larger vehicles in line with low gasoline prices.
Hyundai sold 42,664 Tucson SUVs, up 88.5 percent from a year earlier, while Kia’s Sportage sales jumped 76.3 percent to 42,229.
In June alone, Kia sales rose to an all-time high of 62,572 on the back of the growing popularity of the Sportage, Sorento, Soul and other models. Sportage sales surged 141 percent to 8,549, while those of the Sorento and Soul reached 12,118 and 12,229, respectively.
Among Hyundai vehicles, U.S. consumers bought 7,193 Tucson and 18,345 Santa Fe SUVs, up 99.5 percent and 75.6 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
“Our U.S. sales reached the record-high in the first half on the back of the better than expected performance, fueled by our SUVs,” a Hyundai Motor Group official said. “The SUVs now account for 40 percent of our U.S. sales and will likely continue to grow in the coming months. We will introduce new SUV models over the next few years to capitalize on Americans’ growing preference for crossover vehicles.”
Hyundai plans to launch a new mid-sized SUV in 2019 and a compact SUV under its premium Genesis brand in 2020. Kia will begin selling a compact hybrid SUV, Niro, later this year.
In addition, Hyundai and Kia are found to have fared well in the domestic market for the first six months, due mainly to lower consumption taxes that made it cheaper for consumers to purchase cars.
Volkswagen’s emission cheating scandal and other problems dogging imported car brands have also been said to help bolster the sales of domestic automakers, according to industry analysts.
Hyundai sold 351,124 vehicles at home, up 4.5 percent from the previous year, while Kia sales jumped 14.1 percent to 276,750.
The combined sales of five automakers that manufacture cars here rose 10.9 percent to 812,265. The other three are GM Korea, Renault Samsung and Ssangyong Motor.
But the sales of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other imported car brands dropped 2.3 percent to 93,314 during the January to May period.