Sales of vehicles from Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors have nearly quadrupled in Mexico in May from a year ago, industry data showed Tuesday.
Data compiled by the Mexican Automotive Industry Association showed that the two South Korean carmakers sold a combined 7,727 units in Mexico in May, compared with 2,049 units from the same period last year.
Strong sales also raised the combined market share by Hyundai and Kia in Mexico to 6.4 percent, an all-time record high, in May.
Last month, Kia Motors began production of the K3 compact car at its plant in Mexico, its fourth overseas plant.
Kia said it plans to produce 100,000 units in 2016 before boosting its annual capacity to 300,000 units. That would raise Kia's total production capacity to 3.49 million units -- 1.63 million units in South Korea and 1.86 million units at overseas plants. The carmaker has assembly plants in the United States, China and Slovakia.
Earlier this month, Kia Motors struck a deal with the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon on incentives for roads and other infrastructure in exchange for its plant in Mexico.
In April, President Park Geun-hye met with her Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto, and asked him to address the issue.
Nuevo Leon's new governor Jaime Rodriguez Calderon had sought renegotiations with Kia Motors on the 2014 deal since his election last year. (Yonhap)
