Hyundai Motor ranks as top-selling car brand in Canada

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's leading automaker, ranked as the best-selling passenger vehicle brand in Canada in the first seven months of the year, industry sources said Thursday.
   Hyundai Motor sold a total of 76,590 passenger cars in the North American country during the January-July period, driven by hefty sales of its fuel-efficient models such as the Avante and the Sonata, according to the sources.
   In particular, Hyundai Motor's Avante compact car ranked the second best-selling brand in Canada with a total of 29,051 units sold during the cited period, the sources said.
   The Civic compact car manufactured by Honda Motor Co. of Japan was the best-selling passenger vehicle in Canada with 29,974 units being sold during the cited period, according to the sources.
   Monthly sales of the Hyundai Avante have averaged some 4,000 units so far this year, almost up 41 percent from a year earlier, the sources said.
   Demand for Hyundai Motor's fuel-efficient vehicles is also on the rise there as the Canadian government emphasizes cars with high fuel economy.
   sam@yna.co.kr
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