Hyundai-Kia ranks sixth in U.S. sales

Both carmakers post record sales of over 1.13m units in U.S. last year


Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. posted record sales in the United States last year, together ranking sixth in sales volume after GM, Ford, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda.

With over 1.13 million cars sold, Hyundai-Kia overtook Nissan for the first time by about 90,000 units in the world’s largest auto market.

Models that can run more than 40 miles per gallon such as the Elantra, Sonata Hybrid and Accent accounted for about a third of Hyundai-Kia’s sales as fuel economy and value for money appealed more to U.S. consumers amid high oil prices and low economic growth.

Sales of Hyundai and Kia surged 20 percent to 645,691 cars and 36 percent to 485,492 cars from a year go, respectively, according to the companies’ U.S. arms.

The Sonata was Hyundai’s bestselling car last year, with 225,961 units sold, up 15 percent from 2010.

“The Sonata was among the top five bestsellers last year with the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima that sold over 200,000 units each thanks to its bold design and high fuel economy,” a Hyundai official said.

The Elantra, named Avante in Korea, marked sales growth of 41 percent to 186,361 units, becoming the second-bestselling car. The Elantra is among the three finalists with the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Passat for the 2012 North American Car of the Year award given by a group of respected U.S. automotive journalists.

Hyundai’s Tucson sport-utility sold 47,232 units, the Veloster, which entered the U.S. market last year, 9,284 units and the luxury sedan Equus 3,193 units.

Sales of Kia, the fastest growing automaker in the U.S. with record sales for 16 consecutive months, were driven up by the releases of new models such as the Optima and the Sorento. The Sorento sport-utility sold 130,235 units, the Optima 84,590 units and the Soul over 10,000 units. The K5 sold 83,570 units last year.

Kia’s U.S. market share has continued to grow for 17 years in a row, reaching 3.8 percent last year.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)