Hyundai, Kia see sales improve in China

Hyundai and affiliate Kia sold 146,400 cars in the Chinese market last month, accounting for a combined 9.2 percent of the market, the carmakers said on Monday.

A total of 1.6 million cars were sold in China in April.

"We took up over 9 percent of the Chinese market for the first time this year," a Hyundai spokesman said.

Their combined market share continued to grow from 6.1 percent in January to 7.7 percent in February and 8.3 percent in March.

The Hyundai Avante MD and the Kia Sportage drove Chinese sales.

But the carmakers' cumulative sales in China stood at 515,700 cars for the first four months of this year, down 12.1 percent from the same period last year. Their combined market share also decreased 2 percent on-year to 7.7 percent in the fourth-month period.

Audi Volkswagen took the top spot with an 18.7 percent share in April, selling 299,500 cars, followed by GM with 10.2 percent or 163,600 cars sold.

Honda came fourth with 6.1 percent, Toyota (5.5 percent) fifth and Nissan (5.2 percent) sixth.

(THE CHOSUNILBO)