Hyundai, Kia tapped as top automotive brands in U.S.

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s two largest carmakers, have been tapped as top automotive brands in the U.S. market, industry sources said Monday.

Hyundai and Kia both received “A-plus” marks from TrueCar.com in the latest Grades for Manufacturers and Brands review, they said, adding only Jeep received the same high marks in the monthly evaluation by the U.S. automotive solutions and information provider.

Japanese carmakers such as Honda and Subaru received the second-highest “A” ratings.

TrueCar.com checks such categories as price fluctuations, sales growth, customer loyalty, market shares and inventory to evaluate carmakers.

Hyundai, meanwhile, has consecutively been named as the top brand since July.

Both Hyundai and Kia currently offer the least incentives to entice buyers in the U.S. market, but their new models have posted impressive sales gains this year.

Sales by the two carmakers rose 26 percent on-year during the 10 months of this year, with a total of 950,411 vehicles sold in the North American country so far.

The combined market share of the two carmakers in the U.S. hovers at around 9 percent, placing it sixth after General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda. 

(Yonhap News)