Hyundai, Kia market share reaches record high in Europe

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- Market share of cars made by Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. reached record-high levels in Europe last month, fueled by improved brand recognition and quality, industry sources said Sunday. Local industry sources, citing the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, better known by its French name, Association des Constructeurs Europeens d'Automobiles (ACEA), said the two companies sold a combined 45,911 units last month for a market share of 5.9 percent. This surpasses the previous record of 5.2 percent reached in August 2010 and April of this year. Last month, sales by Hyundai, South Korea's largest automotive company, jumped 18.3 percent on-year to 27,376 units, while numbers for Kia, the No. 2 carmaker, surged 24.8 percent to 18,535 units. Market share by Hyundai and Kia stood at 3.5 percent and 2.4 percent of the European market, respectively, the ACEA said. The report, meanwhile, said that sales by the companies that are flagships of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth largest automaker, surpassed that of Daimler AG, which makes Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, and Fiat S.p.A. It ranked seventh overall in vehicles sold in the large European market after Germany's BMW. The honor of the best-selling carmaker for August went to Germany's Volkswagen Group, followed by France's PSA Peugeot Citroen and the Renault S.A.