Hyundai, Kia claim record share of Canadian car market

SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- The combined market share of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. in Canada reached a record high in May, a U.S. report said Tuesday, amid setbacks of Japanese rivals still reeling from the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake.
According to U.S. automotive magazine Ward's Auto, the combined sales of the two South Korean automakers in Canada came to 20,895 units last month, accounting for 14.1 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold there.
The May figure was up from 13.1 percent in April. Hyundai and Kia are the flagship affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive group.
The companies' combined sales were still behind those of the so-called Big 3 U.S. automakers -- Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC. and General Motors Co. -- but ahead of Japan's Toyota Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co., the report said.
Hyundai Motor Group said earlier that its market share in the U.S. had also shot to the record high of 10.1 percent last month, reaching a double-digit mark for the first time in its history.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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