Hyundai-Kia's EU market stays flat in Jan.

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its corporate cousin Kia Motors Corp. both saw their share in the European market remain unchanged on-year in January despite a jump in the number of cars sold, official data showed Sunday.

The carmaking pair's market share in 27 EU member states with the exception of Malta stood at a combined 5.8 percent in January, with Hyundai holding on to 3.2 percent and Kia 2.6 percent, according to the data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

Their total number of cars sold in the region, in contrast, came to 57,900 units, surging 7.2 percent over the cited period from the previously tallied 54,007 units, the ACEA data showed.

A total of 998,611 passenger vehicles were newly registered in Europe last month, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Compared to the South Korean auto duo, other carmakers, including Volkswagen, PSA Group, Renault, Ford and BMW, took away a larger portion.

Volkswagen Group, with well-known models including the Audi and Skoda, also managed to maintain its market share unchanged at 25.5 percent in January, remaining at the top.

PSA Group, with lineups such as the Peugeot and Citroen, lost 0.9 percentage point to claim 10.8 percent, and Ford's market share also slipped 0.1 percentage point to 6.9 percent, according to the data.

Renault and BMW, on the other hand, both expanded their presence in the European market by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage point to 9.5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, the data showed.

Japanese automaker Toyota, with its popular Lexus brand, had a market share of 4.9 percent in January, up 0.1 percentage point from the previous year, while Nissan's figure pushed up 0.9 percentage point to come to 4.3 percent, according to the ACEA data. (Yonhap)