Hyundai, Kia sell over 100,000 hybrid cars

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., Korea's top two carmakers, have sold more than 100,000 hybrid cars in the three years and five months since they launched the models, industry sources said Tuesday.

The carmakers' cumulative sales of their hybrid cars stood at 106,450 units in November both at home and abroad, according to the sources.

Hyundai and Kia started selling their first hybrid vehicles such as the Avante and Forte hybrids in July 2009.

Hyundai's Sonata hybrid became the best-selling car among their hybrid vehicles, with its sales coming to 55,624 units at home and abroad.

The carmakers' hybrid vehicle sales have been on the increase in the overseas market, not just the domestic market, the sources said.

Overall sales of the carmakers' hybrid cars rose 69.1 percent to 56,203 units in the first 11 months of the year from a year earlier thanks to a sharp rise in their overseas sales.

Kia and Hyundai plan to release their mid-sized electric cars in the first half of 2014 and in the first half of 2015, respectively.

The carmakers also have plans to release hydrogen fueled vehicles after 2015, the sources said. (Yonhap)