Hyundai, Kia auto sales in Europe more than quadruple in April

Auto sales of South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister Kia Corp. more than quadrupled last month in Europe against the virus-ridden previous year amid revived demand in line with vaccine rollouts.

The two car makers announced Thursday they sold a combined 78,495 vehicles in April in Europe, surging 317.3 percent from a year earlier. Hyundai Motor sold 36,087 units (up 295.3 percent), and Kia 42,408 units (up 338.2 percent).

During the period, a total of 1,039,810 cars were sold in Europe, up 255.9 percent on year.

Hyundai and Kia’s share in the market gained 1.1 percentage points to 7.5 percent – Hyundai 3.5 percent and Kia 4.1 percent.

Hyundai Motor’s Tucson SUV delivered the largest 12,357 units, followed by Kona with 8,693 units and i20 6,175 units. Kia’s best-selling models were Ceed with 10,819 units, Sportage with 8,017 units and Niro with 7,009 units.

Among the eco-friendly lineup, Kia Niro sold the most 7,009 units (hybrid 3,641 units and all-electric 3,368 units), Hyundai Kona 5,765 units (all-electric 3,744 units and hybrid 2,021 units), and Hyundai Tucson 4,470 units (hybrid 4,191 units and plug-in hybrid 279 units).

All-electric vehicle sales totaled 8,393 units, up 285 percent against a year ago.

From January to April, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 300,529 cars in Europe, adding 24.9 percent on year. Combined share rose 0.1 percentage point to 7.3 percent in the European market, where auto sales were up 23.1 percent to 4,120,443 units in the period.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]