Hyundai Motor reclaims No. 2 spot in Australian car sales

Hyundai Motor has reclaimed the No. 2 spot in Australian car sales, with its October car sales outpacing those of American rival Ford and Japanese rival Mazda, according to the latest data compiled by the market tracker BestSellingCarsBlog.com on Sunday.

Hyundai sold around 6,200 vehicles in October in Australia, a 3 percent increase from a year prior. For the January-October period this year, its cumulative car sales reached 61,000 vehicles, up almost 10,000 vehicles from the same period last year.

Of the seven bestselling car brands in Australia, Hyundai was the only carmaker that sold more cars this year than in 2020.

The Korean carmaker reclaimed the second spot it last held in October 2019, while Japan’s Toyota retained its No. 1 position with a market share of nearly 20 percent. Its smaller sibling Kia suffered an 8.5 percent decline in sales to rank fifth.

Looking into car models, Hyundai’s i30 compact and Tucson crossover drove up overall sales, selling 1,800 and 1,500 units, respectively. The i30, in particular, saw a 36 percent surge in sales, becoming the fourth-highest-selling car during the period.

The fully electric Ioniq 5 compact and Nexo hydrogen SUV also continued gaining popularity in the market. Earlier this year, Hyundai supplied 20 units of the Nexo as official cars for the Australian government.

By Hong Yoo (yoohong@heraldcorp.com)